Rise of Daemon
by Ajwf is a verb
Summary: Daemon has broken out of the Dark World, and he has brought a few nightmares with him. The chosen children are alerted by a complete stranger, and Gennia can't be contacted. Can the chosen children defeat Daemon? With the help of the old and new generation, Tk will attempt to put an end to Daemon. But, what happens when he becomes a part of the stranger's own secret plans?
1. Chapter 1

The Message

T.K. was sitting in his college history class. While he was supposed to be listening to the professor, the cherry blossom trees outside the small second-story window were, at this point at least, far more interesting.

He looked around the larger, elongated classroom. Kari was sitting slightly across the lecture hall, also looking very distracted. As his vision shifted, he caught a glimpse of Ken, taking notes on the extremely boring speech, and then, a little farther towards the front, Davis, who was on the verge of snoring.

He sighed. It had been quite a few years now since his last encounter with MaloMyotismon, and since then, the digital world had been quite. Now 18, he had been thrust into the real world as a college student. Sticking together at college had been all they could do to stick together.

It had been Yolei's idea. She had gone off to college a year before all of them, and had suggested the idea halfway through her second semester, saying that college was very lonely.

Yolei was currently in her history class, which was a little farther ahead than the current class. She did have most of her other classes with the Chosen Children, but she was spared the boredom of this class. Cory had not started college yet. He was a year behind the others, but both T.K. and Yolei made honest efforts to keep in touch with him.

A note slipped in front of his face. He looked up to see one of the many errand runners the college had walking away, quite and unnoticed. Shrugging, T.K. looked down at the note. It simply read:

_Meet me in Rm. 57 at the first available time. I have a new class for you._

Looking around, he saw Kari staring at him, her eyebrows furrowed, seemingly questioning the note. All he could do was shrug and continue to look out his window.

* * *

><p>After his history lecture hall, T.K. made for room 57. Being like most kids, he was not exactly sure where room 57 was, or even what building it was in, but he simply assumed that the building referred to was the one he was in when he got the note.<p>

After a lot of asked questions and missed turns, he arrived at the room. After knocking, he received only a short response. "Door's unlocked, kid."

Opening the door, he saw a young teen sitting by a computer. Thinking it odd, he was about to leave, but the teen stopped him.

"Takeru Takaishi, please come in and close the door behind you. We have a lot to discuss and very little time for conversation." T.K. looked at the young man and saw his first observation was slightly off. Although he did indeed appear like a teen, he had a mature look to his face, and hard, grey-blue eyes. His face was slightly elongated, and he had a small hooked nose. He was, T.K. judged, about 5'7". He wore a simple black polo shirt, jeans, and a necklace chain. What the chain held was impossible to see because the man wore it under his polo.

T.K. quickly closed the door and sat down. He looked at the other man and was about to ask who he was, but the other man stopped him before he could speak.

"I understand that you still have your D3 with you, if not on you. Am I correct?"

Speechless, T.K. could only stare.

"Well, this isn't helping much. Let me try again. Are you able to get in touch with Patamon? This is very important."

This time, T.K. managed a nod, and asked "How do you know about this?"

"No time. But very good, at least we have our means done..." The other continued to mutter softly to himself, obviously in deep thought. He finally looked up and said, "Well, I cannot explain much now, I need to be going. The digital world is in deep trouble right now, and I need to keep checkups on it. Hand these..." he handed T.K. a stack of papers, "Out to the rest of the chosen children. It is their application to change classes. This spot will be filled as your last class of every day. All the work for those classes have already been added in to be A's. I will try to inform you on more later. For now, though, I must go."

T.K. watched as the other man quickly disappeared with a gust of wind. While most people would be shocked, T.K. had grown used to things randomly happening that should and could never happen by physics. He knew that there was no windows opened, but he never thought to think of where the wind came from.

Looking around the room, T.K. saw a few desks, a chalkboard, projector, and one computer. The computer was a new model, pristine and white, but off. He turned to leave, but an object caught his eye. In the corner of the room, a small engraved piece of wood read:

Nothing is true. Light blinds just as well as darkness. Trust not what you can see through eyes, only what you hear through your soul.

T.K.'s brow brow furrowed as he frowned, trying to comprehend the plaque.

What could the strange man mean by this? Was it even intended for him? After placing the note back in the corner, he left the room quickly without any more delay.

* * *

><p>"You really put a nice touch on the exit, there," a voice said, invisible to all but one, "But I do not see what you wish to accomplish with that note that you could not accomplish by just telling him. You need to develop some trust before we can continue."<p>

"You know as well as I do that he will think far longer on that note than he would if I had just told him. Now, come. We have work that is calling us. Wasting any more time here would be a grave mistake." The man's voice said, still invisible in the room. Wooden sounding footsteps echoed as he walked away.

"Hey, T.K.! Where were you?" Kari asked as T.K. walked into the large cafeteria. She walked over to him and gave him a quick hug, made short by the fact that everyone was watching. They both still had feelings for each other, and both new the other loved them back, but love has this crazy way of making people nervous. So, for now, they enjoyed each other's company.

"Its a long story. Here, I have some papers to give you guys before I start." T.K. passed out the papers around the table. He hadn't had a chance to look at them yet, but everyone had a paper titled to them, so he grabbed his and explained what the man had told him.

"And he wants us to drop our last period class and join a false class?" Ken asked, reading through the class-change application. "We do need account management, its a good class to have."

Davis, who had been listening intently while eating a cheeseburger, decided it was time for him to comment. "I'm not to concerned with my future, and trading that boring class for an adventure sounds like a more than fair trade to me."

T.K. looked down at his form, and was surprised to see two more papers sitting there. He quickly grabbed them and scrolled through the first one. "Look at this, guys, there is a form for Cody here! It says that he is to take classes at the university because he is considered a 'higher level thinker'." As the others looked at the form, T.K. continued, "Well, I know the digital world has never cared much for our 'real' lives, but the man who gave me the papers seemed like he wasn't even considering our normal lives. He was focused on the digital world, and that alone."

"Can we trust him?" Kari asked. She had been deep in thought the whole time. As the Child of Light, it was understood, though never mentioned, that she was probably the most powerful of the Chosen Children, and she naturally tried to be a thoughtful leader on the team. "He randomly shows up, tells us the Digital World is in trouble, asks us to change classes and leaves. We don't know anything other than the Digital World is in trouble, which doesn't surprise me at all."

"Well, why don't we just contact Gennai and ask him what's up?" Yolei asked. She wasn't looking forward to leaving on another quest. She was taking classes to be a software engineer, and was at the top of her class. She and Ken had now been going out since the end of the last Digital Adventure. She was slightly worried that another long quest would tear her away from her career path.

They would've continued discussing options, but they had to get to their next class, the last of the day. Although this was the last class, it was only once a week that the class was so late, they mostly had the classes earlier, but Friday's schedule could get hectic. They all headed off to their separate classes, Ken to investigative technology, Yolei to computer tech, T.K. to literacy and writing, Kari to a teaching course, and Davis... Well, Davis had a home cooking class.

* * *

><p>When T.K. reached his literature, he realized that he had totally forgotten about his second paper that he had so recently discovered. Taking it out, he found it was very elaborate notes on his literature class. There was a short message at the top, T.K. figured it was from the mysterious man. As he started to read, he realized that he was correct in his assumption.<p>

_Takeru Takaishi, I know that you have a lot of questions. Not all of them can or will I answer. The notes taken are all on today's class, as I realize you won't be able to focus well, and I understand how important this class is to you. _

_Now, let me explain what I most likely missed. Daemon is back, and stronger than ever. The choice to send him to the Dark World was not the brightest choice you could've made. His powers multiplied, and he can now rival Azulongmon in power. And he has. _

_I will not be there at the class tomorrow, but that doesn't mean we can't get something accomplished. The computer in my room possess much of the hardware that the computer with the digital port did at your old high school, because i took the computer apart and rebuilt it. It works. Go to the digital world. You will find I was not lying about the trouble. But be careful. I still need your help. _

_Cody received tickets for the train today, he should arrive before tomorrow's 'class'. _

_Lastly, the digimon are free to digivolve to their ultimate and mega forms, for Azulongmon has lost his power. _

_Well, not to sound ominous, but have fun_.

* * *

><p>"Patamon, I'm back!" T.K. shouted into his dorm. His trusty bat-pig digimon flew into him, semi-tackling him, giggling with joy.<p>

When T.K. was able to get up, he looked around his dorm room. It was made for two, but how could he room with someone and manage to stay with Patamon? Ken and Davis roomed together, they had become best friends, Davis drawing Ken out of his shell, and Ken stopping Davis from doing something he would terribly regret. Kari and Yolei roomed together, the two of them had been good friends, maybe not as good as Ken and Davis, but the two of them supported each other, and that was enough.

Patamon stared at him as he thought, but finally drew him out of thought, saying, "T.K., I've been thinking. You spend about 4 hours every day at college, 8 hours sleeping, and about 2 hours eating. Then you spend an hour or two studying. This all adds up to me not being able to play with you enough!"

T.K. looked at his smiling digimon, and couldn't help but smile himself. Patamon was always so easy to be around, and generally very simplistic. "Patamon, how long did you think about this?"

Patamon looked thoughtful, and landed on T.K.'s head, "About 6 hours... why?"

T.K. laughed, "I was just thinking, it isn't hard to keep you occupied, so you shouldn't worry about half of the hours we aren't together, and the other half, you sleep through. Now, I don't have any work to do, let's go find Kari and Gatomon."

"Yay!" Patamon laughed. Gatomon and Patamon, or at least Patamon, wasn't to the point of thinking about dating, and the two digimon's still childish play pleased their best friends.

* * *

><p>Kari walked into her dorm room to find Yolei already home. Hawkmon and Gatomon were both sitting there, listening to Yolei explain the digital world's trouble. When Gatomon saw Kari, she waved and walked over. Though the cat-like digimon didn't show her affection so excitedly, Kari and Gatomon were pretty much sisters.<p>

Gatomon jumped on the small counter in the dorm, "So, the Digital World is in trouble? Any idea what the problem is?"

Kari shook her head, "Yeah, apparently the Digital World is in trouble, but T.K. talked to the stranger, not me. Ask him when he comes over."

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. T.K. and Patamon walked in, and Patamon flew to Gatomon and almost knocked her over as he attempted to land on her head. She playfully punched Patamon and the two of them laughed. The Chosen Children only got together on the weekends, because studying could make life difficult. Therefore, Patamon didn't get to see any other digimon unless T.K. was helping Davis with a project.

"Kari, I came across another paper that the stranger gave to me," T.K. said. He handed her the note and she read it over.

"Daemon? Well, though I disagree that sending him to the Dark World was a bad idea, I could see the truth to this," Kari said after she looked up.

"I don't believe a word he says," Yolei said. She had stood up and walked to stand next Kari. Continuing, she said, "I tried to contact Gennai multiple times and I can't get in touch with him. I think he's lying to us."

"What!" Kari and T.K. exclaimed. They talked with Gennai often enough, and the thought that Gennia was absent was unthinkable.

After in sank in, T.K. spoke up. "I don't know if we can trust him, I've doubted that. But I think he is telling the truth. He said that Azulongmon lost his power." He handed Yolei the note and waited for her to read through it.

"Well, I guess we just go tomorrow and see if he was telling the truth."

The Chosen Children soon made their way to meet Ken and Davis at a local park. The campus courtyard was large, but on Fridays, it was often busy. T.K. showed the other two boys and digimon the note, and Ken agreed with Yolei and T.K. when they said they didn't trust the mysterious stranger.

After agreeing to make no further mention of the man, they proceeded to walk in the park. The digimon played tag, which was rather one sided, seeing as Patamon and Hawkmon could fly, and Gatomon was a great climber. This left Wormmon and Veemon it quite a bit, but eventually the others started to play 'fair'.

T.K. was holding Kari's hand, and they were enjoying the calm walk. Ken and Yolei also held each other as they walked, wrapping hands around their partner's body. Most people in Davis's position would feel awkward, but Davis didn't understand the meaning of the word. He walked slightly ahead, with his hands behind his head. The small group walked in a peaceful silence, watching the digimon frolicked around them.

"So, what do you guys want to do?" Davis asked. He was still walking, but now was stretching his arms out in front of him as though he had just woken up.

The small group stopped, and the digimon joined them. They stepped off the main path, and stood in a tight circle.

"I think that tonight may be the last normal night for a while. Why don't we go get something to eat, and then we can all get some sleep," Ken said. The others agreed, and so they headed out to eat.

They decided to dine at a small pizzeria. The place was quiet, and the chosen kids were basically on their own. Again, T.K. and Kari sat next to each other, but both kept decent respect for the other's space. Ken and Yolei, on the other hand, snuggled freely and even fed each other. T.K. looked at the other couple with the slightest envy, but he sat next to Kari, still holding her hand. Occasionally, their eyes met, but both would quickly look away, blushing.

Again, Davis saved the meal from being awkward. He ate so much, he even caused Ken to laugh as he cowed down piece after piece.

"Hey Davis, if you don't save any food, we won't be able to defend you," Veemon joked, as Davis plowed through his eighth piece.

"Or we may just choose not to," growled Gatomon. They had enough pizza for everyone to be satisfied, but Gatomon was slightly discussed by the amount of pizza that Davis was eating.

"Davis, I do think you should stop," Ken suggested. He had just finished his second piece and pushed his plate away, not a spot on his shirt, "We may end up doing a lot of walking tomorrow. I wouldn't want to see you fall over after the first few feet."

Everyone laughed as Davis looked up from his plate, tomato sauce on his face, and blushed. He pushed his plate away, embarrassed.

They finished up dinner, and T.K. payed for the pizza. They were about to head their separate ways, but before Kari could leave, T.K. said, "Wait, Kari! I'll walk home with you!"

The words had been unplanned, but Kari turned around and smiled. The two of them walked home, happy and content, walking a little closer than they had when they started the day.

* * *

><p><em>The darkness was everywhere. All consuming. He tracked through it anyways, seemingly alone, but another voice talked to him in whispers while he walked on. <em>

_Finally, the figure stopped, in front of a tombstone. He took out a small grey book and some dust, and started spreading the dust around the tombstone. _

_"In darkness you be, from darkness you come, to darkness you arise." The voice resonated calmly throughout the darkness, breaking the silence momentarily, until the words were eaten by the nothingness around him._

_Deep breathing could be heard, rasping out and coughing. Finally, the invisible voice spoke again, "You have done well. The time has come, let's move on._

* * *

><p><em>Quick AN: This is a re-edit of this chapter again. It was rather unreadable, seeing as all the lines got deleted. Also, I caught five or ten misspellings. A bit late, yes. Anyways, please do feel free to rate and review.  
><em>


	2. Chapter 2

The Cities

T.K. and Patamon were now in Room 57, waiting for the others to arrive. The room gave T.K. the creeps, but Patamon didn't seem to mind. Patamon was currently flying around the room, investigating everything, and trying to find a place suitable to attack the other digimon from.

"T.K., hide, someone's coming!" Patamon squealed with excitement. T.K. smiled for his friend, but shook his head, sitting down by the computer. He was staring at his Crest of Hope. The crest was still bright yellow and well polished, although T.K. rarely took the time to clean it. His D3 was at his side, and he had a bag of supplies on the floor, full of medicine and food. He had packed a rope, just in case, even though that was Davis' responsibility.

The door opened, and Patamon swooped in to attack, but stopped midway through. "Cody?"

Cody walked in and looked up, seeing Patamon just hovering there. He nodded and walked in.

Cody hadn't changed much in the last few years, other than he had grown taller. He now was almost as tall as T.K. but still retained the same facial features he had. He carried Upamon in his hands, and was carrying a Kendo sword at his hip. He was wearing a tannish grey robe, and a small rope belt.

"Cody! What are you doing here? We expected you to end up here, but not so quickly!" T.K. said.

"Hello T.K.," Cody started. He pulled up a chair and sat down. "I got a ticket for the ground train a two days ago, and a short message saying that I was needed. I take it the Digital World is in trouble again."

T.K. nodded and filled him in. Upamon and Patamon listened to T.K.'s retelling, and as he finished, they went about eating some extra snacks that Cody had brought.

Gradually, the other chosen children came into the classroom, all saying a greeting to Cody.

"Cody, what's the sword for?" Davis asked. He had neglected to bring a rope and was trying to draw attention elsewhere to avoid criticism.

"My grandpa wanted me to carry it with me. It may not look like much, but its made of iron wood, and has a metal core, so it won't snap easily."

Half an hour later, everyone was ready and waiting to go to the digital world. A nervous anticipation hung over the group: It would be their first time back in multiple years.

"Well, let us not delay much, and we'll figure out if the guy was telling the truth. Digiport open!" Ken, never one for loud exclamations, calmly opened the port and went through, followed by the rest of the team and their digimon.

Upon arriving to the digital world, they realized that none of them had programed a decently landing point, so they had randomly been spawned in on a giant flat plain.

"Well, the only obvious way to go about this is to split up," T.K. said, after looking around. Go with your DNA partners, and head towards the nearest city on your map. Remember, you can digivolve to Ultimate." With this, he recalled that only he and Kari had really digivolved that far up. The group split anyways, and they headed off to their nearest towns.

"What's wrong, Gatomon? You're all tense right now. Is something up?" Kari asked her friend. Gatomon had been in deep concentration for a while, and Kari felt it was time to draw her out of her deep thinking.

They had made it to the outskirts of the 'city', a small town on the outskirts of the plains.

Breathing in deeply a few times, Gatomon seemed to perk up, and she looked around quickly before talking, "This place stinks of darkness. I don't like it."

"Well," Hawkmon began, "It doesn't seem to be very active... I think we should look to find some life here."

All of them looked around. The town that they had entered was deserted. They where in the town square, and parts of buildings were crumbling down. The town hall in front of them was missing the second story. Most of the houses had holes in them and some were even still smoking.

"We better search for survivors. Maybe we can find something," Yolei suggested. They quickly moved off to search for any digimon who might've lived.

"Ken, have I ever told you I hate walking?" Wormmon asked. "This looks like a great place to take a break, over by this random lake..."

Ken was staring at his D3 as he replied, "Wormmon, there isn't a lake for miles around. We should be right on top of the town..."

What Wormmon had stumbled upon was not a lake, but a crater. Being so low to the ground, he had not seen there was no water in it. Ken and Davis exchanged looks. The town should've been right in front of them. Instead, they were greeted with a crater at least 100 yards across, and the same deep. In the crater was smooth rock and dirt, no jagged edges, and no sign of what made the crater.

"It looks as if the stranger was indeed correct." Ken stated. He turned to leave.

"Ken, we have to look for survivors!" Davis exclaimed. He was looking around the crater, trying to find a safe way down.

"Davis, no one could've survived that. They're all gone."

"Well, we can search the area to see if anyone saw the blast," Veemon suggested. He looked around the surrounding land, "We need to know what we're up against."

"Armadillomon, how do you do that? I could never fly for this long. That's why I have T.K," Patamon said. Armadillomon hadn't faltered yet, and was almost outpacing T.K. and Cody, who were struggling to keep up.

"I don't know, Patamon, y'all just gotta keep going. Its pretty easy. Anyways, we should be kinda close to that city."

The last of the Chosen Children neared the edge of the hill that was overlooking the city. As they neared it, they saw smoke. Rushing the last few hundred yards to the top of the hill, they saw a frightening site. A constant digital stream was in the sky, and it was heading in one direction: toward Primary Village. The sky was black, and cinders were falling down slowly, tumbling like black snow to the ground, blanketing it.

"I wasn't lying." A low voice said from behind them. Everyone turned to see the strange man, now with a black robe on, with random patterns of grey going through it. His face was pale, much unlike what it had been when T.K. first saw him. He held a staff in his left hand, a glowing red ruby.

T.K. turned around angrily and shouted, "You caused this! You're the one who has brought the demise of this world! You choose to kill innocent digimon! What is your problem?"

The man calmly looked at T.K. and Cody, who had drawn out his kendo sword. He sighed and shook his head, "I did not cause this mess. Look closer. Through the darkness, what do you see?"

T.K. turned to look back into the smoke. He stared into it, but before he could decipher anything out of the smoke, he heard an evil laugh.

"Devimon?" Patamon asked, stunned. The red eyes and orange symbol pierced though the smoke. "But how is this possible? We killed him!"

"And so he was resurrected. As were other bad memories from your childhood. Piedmon and Myotismon have also returned. Daemon has been busy."

"Then why don't you attack, if you're really helping? Come on Patamon, let's take him down once and for all!" As T.K. grabbed his D3, the stranger grabbed his hand.

"No, after being revived, dark digimon are invincible for a little while. You attacking could only get you killed. For now, be glad that the gate did not drop them again at Primary Village. Now, being here can only bring more sadness. I warned the digimon of the return of these three, and so some left, but others didn't believe me. They are the ones whose data is flowing in the sky."

"How can you prove you weren't apart of this? You are randomly at the village burning down, and you claim you knew this was happening before hand. How? None of this makes sense," Cody stated. His intuitive side was showing through as he tried to back the stranger into a philosophical corner.

"Right now, I can't prove it. If you want to attack Devimon, go ahead, I won't stop you. You have to learn to cut your losses and continue on. I knew he was coming because Resurrection Hall's gate was open in the plains by the moon. Resurrection Hall is where all non-normal digimon go, instead of returning to Primary Village. Now, call up Yolei and Ken, see if Peidmon and Myotismon left any survivors. After Devimon moves on, we shall look for our own survivors."

He sat down after he finished speaking, and watched as Devimon continued his destruction. The data stream was slowing slightly, a sign that there were few digimon left.

"Kari, I found something! Look here!" Gatomon exclaimed. She was trying to move a piece of a 2x4 from a destroyed house. Kari and Yolei quickly came over to help her. The piece of lumber was lodged in between some other debris, so Hawkmon flew in and started to drag out the group's first survivor.

"A lopmon! We got to get some water for it," Yolei said.

"Okay, let's go, Stingmon!" Ken said as Stingmon grabbed him. Veemon though he saw something at the middle of the crater, and so Ken had decided to investigate it.

When he arrived at the middle of the pit, Stingmon set him down. When he got to the middle of the crater, he saw a single playing card standing slightly sideways out of the ground. The back cover had two overlapping swords. Ken grabbed it and flipped it over and discovered it was the Black Joker. A short message was written across the front:

_Enjoy the Show!_

_Love, Piedmon_

Before Ken could wonder what 'show' the clown could be referring to, the ground started shaking violently. Stingmon grabbed him just before a pit formed beneath his feet. They flew quickly away, but Vilemon piled out of the hole and started to attack.

Lopmon had woken up to see Gatomon right in front of her. The little bunny freaked out to see the cat digimon right in front of her. Gatomon just smiled sweetly, "Don't worry, we're not here to hurt you. Do you need anything?"

This didn't help the lopmon at all, who was still freaking out, "You're Myotismon's servant! Get away! Get AWAY!"

"Lopmon, we are truly not here to hurt you. We just rescued you from a crushed building. Now, what's all this about Myotismon?" Kari asked, intervening for her hurt partner.

Still shaking, Lopmon started to speak, "This town was attacked by Myotismon just a few hours ago. He destroyed everything, for fun! All of the lopmon and terriermon that lived here are gone! And Myotismon is summoning back all of his minions! Gatomon has already been called!"

Kari looked at Gatomon, who was shocked that the other digimon knew, but nodded anyways. Gatomon looked at Lopmon, "Yes, I have been called, but that was more so he could torture me than anything else. How did this all happen?"

Lopmon tried to sit up, and succeeded with the help of Yolei and Kari, "I should explain myself first. In our village, one Terriermon or Lopmon has the ability to see into a person. The elder of our village has this power, as does a younger one, who is technically the heir to the power. The power switches every generation, so our elder was a terriermon. The power can allow us to see people's intention, and their spiritual makeup. You, Hikari Kamiya, show up extremely bright to me. You have a radiance of light and brightness, but the color is offset by fear. The fear isn't as great, but it is still there. We can see this with anyone, and the elder can also use his wisdom to come to a conclusion.

Yolei and Kari looked at each other. Neither of them knew of the bunny-like digimon having this kind of power, and Willis certainly never mentioned it.

"It... began two days ago," Lopmon continued, "A strange man entered our village and warned of the darkness that would attack us. He went and talked to our elder, but our elder Terriermon rejected him, saying he harbored much darkness. The man turned and shouted to all of us, 'If you are wiser than the elder here, you shall leave, but heed my words, stay here and you will suffer a mighty consequence'. He almost left, but saw me. He walked over and said, 'Come with me. There is much to say and little time'. We walked into the surrounding plains and he told me of what would come, of how a dark hall would open and how three digimon would re-emerge from darkness. Lastly, he gave me a sphere, and said that since he knew I wouldn't believe him, to at least keep it." Lopmon limped back to the pile of debris she had so recently been pulled from and grabbed a white sphere, "The sphere started to glow when Myotismon attacked, and it enveloped me, but drained my energy. It is the only reason I survived."

"But, your elder said he was dark. Why would he save you if he was dark?" Yolei asked. She took the sphere and looked at it. It looked eerily familiar to the blue sphere Azulongmon had given Gennia.

"Even though the stranger had been enveloped in darkness, he still had light with him. It was caring, and the darkness was despair. He was in agony, knowing that he wouldn't be able to save everyone, but there was a deeper pain that I don't even know." Lopmon looked up with big eyes, "Since no one is left here, can I come with you?"

The four looked around. The city was still smoking, and some of the buildings were beginning to crumble under stress and lack of support. Seeing no reason why not, Kari picked up Lopmon and started carrying her. Yolei was about to go as well, but she got a message from Cody:

_We're here at the third city with the strange man. It is being destroyed by Devimon, but he won't let us attack. He says that Devimon is too strong right now. He says all the cities have been destroyed and wants to know if you or Ken have found any survivors. Message me back. I don't trust this man. _

_Cody._

Yolei quickly wrote back:

_We have only one survivor. Meet us at the digiport. _

_"My lord," started Piedmon, "We have destroyed the three cities. Devimon will be coming soon, he was having a little too much fun."_

_"Fantastic," said a voice, "In a few days, I shall be able to join you, but for now, my servant is setting things up for me. Please remember how dangerous the children are. My servant should have chaos between their ranks soon, and then we strike."_

_"My Lord, if I may," Myotismon started, "I would like to take that cat and tear her brain apart piece by piece."_

_"No, Myotismon, I have something more devastating planned. The Dark Spore and Black Gear will be able to work on the kids and their digimon now. We shall have them all, and then you may have your revenge."_

_Both of the dark digimon bowed and disappeared. Darkness resumed._


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you for the reviews again, I truly appreciate it. LordPata, I went into the last chapter to clarify that. I feel braindead myself for not having made that more obvious. I'm not trying to portray Myotismon as an idiot, so I'll have to try harder at that.

Alpha Phoenix, I was planning on something like that. Plus, its not like I can make up new digimon or anything... or maybe I can.

This next chapter, I believe, may get confusing, but I'm hoping it makes sense by chapter 5. Everything here should have about a 2 chapter delay before it makes sense (other than chapter one...).

Lastly: I made a few edits to the last 2 chapters: Only one was made in Chpt. 1 (Patamon was first described as a Bat-pig digimon, where in fact, it is a pig-bat. this matters only in fact that he sounded like Batman's counterpart originally.) In Chapter 2, when Cory arrives, I changed some character actions, just to develop them slightly more. Nothing that will effect anything, it just helps with a little character development which I hope I'm not going to end up lacking.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>CHAPTER 3<p>

Revelations

"Spiking Finish!" Yelled Stingmon as he eliminated more Vilemon. The digimon were falling everywhere, do to ExVeemon and Stingmon, but there were too many of them.

The hole at the bottom of the pit released more Vilemon, who immediately leapt after Stingmon.

ExVeemon looked up at a swarm following Stingmon, "Vee Laser!" The attack took out a great amount of the Vilemon, but more joined the group chasing Stingmon, and some finally caught him.

"We have to DNA digivolve," Ken said, looking at the fight. His expression wasn't too far from normal, but Davis could tell he was anxious.

The two digimon started to glow, and a portal in the sky opened up. Both of them disappeared into the portal, to come back reformed as Paildramon.

Quickly taking action as the Vilemon tried to pile on, Paildramon attacked, "Desperado Blasters!"

The blue light ripped through the ranks of Vilemon, but it wasn't enough. The Vilemon kept piling through the hole.

The battle raged on for a while, Paildramon would have to change positions and swat a few away before opening fire again. But Paildramon wasn't invincible, he was quickly running out of strength.

"You know, I really wish we could have Paildramon digivovle to Imperialdramon. We're about to get overrun," Ken stated, a little more frantic than he had been.

Suddenly, when it looked like Paildramon couldn't go on from energy loss, the Vilemon turned and left. The hole in the ground sealed up and nothing was left of the fight. Right before Paildramon could collapse, he de-digivolved and both DemiVeemon and Minomon appeared on the ground before the two teens.

"Why'd they stop? They had us beaten," Davis said. He looked around. Rain had started to fall, and it looked like a storm was coming. The sky had grown darker, but not lightning or thunder could be seen or heard.

Ken looked around before responding, "Look at all the data we sent away. I wonder if Piedmon is getting stronger by having all this data destroyed, and since we can destroy many more Vilemon than data can come from Paildramon, it would only make sense to stop before Paildramon was destroyed, so that Piedmon could have another snack later. We should go. This storm is probably like storms in deserts: there will be major flooding, and I bet this crater will become a lake if this rain picks up anymore." Already, it was a downpour, and the rain was picking up, falling in large sheets. It seemed as if they were standing in a monsoon.

The four of them were about to head out, but Ken looked at his D-Terminal and realized he had a missed message. He read the message, this time written by T.K.

_Ken, we ran into the stranger again. He was watching as Devimon blew up a city. He seemed oddly satisfied, but slightly distraught, saying that the digimon had fair warning. He wants to know if you found any survivors at your city. _

_ I don't trust him. He is carrying a staff with a glowing ruby in it, and it makes me wonder if he is even human. He can be very heartless. Yolei said they had one survivor. Myotismon attacked their town, so that leaves Piedmon as the culprit who attacked your town. Be careful, he can be very tricky. _

_ T.K._

He showed Davis the message, and wrote back:

_Piedmon did indeed attack our city, there is noting left but a huge crater. I've never met Piedmon, but received a message on a playing card to enjoy his surprise, a bunch of Vilemon. We were attacked, but they stopped right before they would've won. I have a feeling that the dark digimon may be feeding off the data of destroyed digimon. Anyways, it is raining very hard over in our area. We're leaving, no one could've survived Piedmon's blast. _

_ Ken._

* * *

><p>"I got Ken's message just now, Cody." T.K. said. They were exploring the burning city with the stranger. He hadn't spoken another word since Devimon left.<p>

"Okay, tell me about it later unless its urgent. I want to look through this church," Cody said, and walked into a burned out digichurch, a statue of Azulongmon cracked on the ground before the front door.

They continued searching, Armadillomon searching tight areas, Patamon flying into high areas, even the stranger slowly paced through the streets, holding his staff out in front of him as a light source.

The rubble was everywhere along the street, making it easy to trip and stumble.

Eventually, they regrouped, having found nothing. The stranger sighed. "I warned them," he said, "Now, get out of here. This town should not be left as a symbol of dark power, I will eliminate the rest of this relic so that eventually, someone can rebuild.

T.K. and Cody shrugged and left. They started the long walk towards the portal. When they were far over the ridge, they saw a great light form everywhere around them. They turned around to see a great, silent maelstrom of fire destroy all the material in the town. When it subsided, there was nothing left but scorched earth. The stranger was no where to be seen.

"You think he caused that, T.K.? For all Devimon did in an hour, he destroyed a city almost instantaneously!" Cody said. His mouth was agape as he stared at what had just been a burning city.

"I don't know who else could. I hope that we don't have to go after him."

* * *

><p>"And who is going to be responsible for that little monster, anyways? Our dorm is packed as it is," Davis said. He and the other Chosen Children were standing in room 57, their digimon outside playing. They were discussing what to do with Lopmon.<p>

"I don't know if Gatomon is too happy to have Lopmon around, either," Kari said. She looked out the window, overlooking the digimon. Right now, they were all getting along fine, but on their way back, Gatomon had professed her worries about Lopmon.

_"She brings back bad memories too easily! Whenever she looks at me, I can feel her digging into my soul, bringing out memories of Myotismon. I know she doesn't mean it, but I can't stand it!"_

"I'll take her," T.K. offered, "Since Cody isn't staying with me, I still have room." It had been agreed that Cody would stay in the west campus wing, with the younger kids studying for college. He had a room all to himself, and was perfectly content to practice his kendo with Armadillomon.

"Well, I guess that solves it then. Now, what about this stranger? We can't just keep meeting him, and we don't even know his name! I say we get answers from him on Monday, and then we go about things our way!" Davis said. The others nodded.

"Although, I do think that we need to be careful around him," Cody said, "He did blow up the hole city, even quicker than Devimon could burn it all the way down. By the way, who are these three? We've seen MaloMyotismon, but what about Devimon, Piedmon, and even just plain Myotismon?"

T.K. and Kari quickly recapped the three dark digimon, telling of their adventures and how they ended up destroying them. They mentioned that although MaloMyotismon was, in theory, Myotismon's top form, he was extremely powerful in his normal form, maybe even more deadly since he could slink around easier.

"So, out of these three, Devimon sounds the deadliest. He not only caused Patamon to have to be reborn, he made something similar to the dark ring years before I did," Ken said. He scratched his head thoughtfully, and looked around, "Daemon has the Dark Spore, and Peidmon can turn people into dolls. Myotismon proved that he could possess people. Is there a connection here, or is this just the standard of darkness?"

"I think that Daemon isn't worried about that, but it is something to consider. Tai always thought Myotismon was the most powerful, because he probably told Devimon to hold us off so he could search for me," Kari said, "Let's get going though, it's about eight, and we'll be back here Monday."

With that, they left. Lopmon went with T.K. and Patamon, but T.K. opted to walk Kari home again. He gave Patamon his dorm's keys and sent Lopmon and Patamon on their way, in which Patamon started a race to see who'd get home quicker. It was rigged, seeing as the only way Lopmon could get in was if Patamon opened the door, and Patamon was not going to lose.

"You smell different, T.K., like something out of a memory," Gatomon said as they walked.

"Gatomon, he has been rummaging through a smoking town all day." Kari said, "We all probably smell a little smokey."

"No, no, not smoke, and I haven't smelled this for so long. I can't remember what it is... Oh well, no need to worry about it." They continued in silence, T.K. and Kari quietly enjoying each other's company until they got to Kari's dorm. Yolei had gone ahead as to not disturb T.K. and Kari. They stood outside the door for a little bit, lost in each other's eyes. This would've been a long romantic moment had Gatomon not interupted them, quietly coughing next to them. Kari sighed.

"Well, I guess we'll talk tomorrow," T.K. said, blushing. Kari smiled and quickly hugged him before going inside.

* * *

><p>"So, Lopmon, what do you like to do then? You don't want to play tag, or cards, or even hide and seek. It must be so boring!" Patamon exclaimed. Lopmon was looking at him and giggling, as Patamon hovered in air, trying to think of something to do. T.K. was cooking dinner, and so Patamon had time to figure out who exactly was Lopmon.<p>

"I don't mind doing any of that," Lopmon giggled, "Its just funnier to see you confused. You turn such a funny color."

Patamon landed and looked at his wing, "I'm still orange! What are you talking about?" He looked at T.K., who just smiled at him.

"I don't know, Patamon, you're looking pretty red to me!" T.K. said and Lopmon laughed.

"Patamon, I was referring to my other sight, but now you are changing colors," Lopmon said, giggling.

Patamon realized he was blushing. "T.K., you're suppose to help me, not confuse me!" He pouted.

"Dinner is done, so let's not worry about it." T.K. said, saving himself from laughing at his partner. Patamon sat down across from Lopmon, who was still giggling. T.K. had cooked up steamed noodles, and he had added in all kinds of vegetables with it. "I don't know if you're a vegetarian, Lopmon, so I played it safe tonight."

"I am, but don't worry, I can cook pretty well, so if you do feel the need to eat meat, just tell me and I'll make something that won't interrupt you."

They all ate and enjoyed T.K.'s cooking. College had helped T.K. really develop as a chef, and his food was excellent. He was almost as good as Davis at cooking noodles.

* * *

><p>"I don't know, Matt, he hasn't been exactly friendly," T.K. said in to his computer monitor. His brother stared back at him.<p>

"T.K., I wasn't exactly warm and nice when I joined the team, and many would say I'm still not that outgoing," Matt said. He was sitting at his dad's home, taking a break from his college. "You've always had a good eye for evil. Do you see him as bad? I think that his intentions are good, his ways just are shady. I mean, if he was evil, why hasn't he attacked you yet?"

Sighing, T.K. sat back in his chair, "But who would just stop after warning the digimon? We would've been there until right before the attack, doing everything we could to get someone to leave. No one left any of the cities, and only one digimon survived at all."

"I can't tell you, T.K., but it seems like he has a few character flaws. Can you discount him on that? He warned you that the Digital World is in trouble, and I know that if I was evil, I wouldn't warn the only ones capable of saving the world."

"I don't know, Matt. I'll think on it. How's dad?" T.K. yawned. It was getting late.

"He's fine, but life is boring. Mom finally started to cool off over me not sticking with her, it only took her, what, 10 years? Huh... Sora and I are still good, but I haven't talked to her face-to-face in a while... The band is doing fine, we're gaining a good bit of popularity, I even saw someone singing our song at a subway station. Life's fine. What about you and Kari? Ever ask her out?"

T.K. blushed, "No, I haven't yet. Unlike you, I have to ask girls out, they don't flock to me like crazy. Hopefully, I'll get a good opportunity soon."

"Okay. Well, I can see your tired. I'll talk to you soon," Matt said. T.K. waved and signed off.

"Okay, Lopmon, Patamon, bedtime." T.K. said. Patamon was trying to tag Lopmon, but every time he'd get close, she'd use a small Lop Twister to blow him away. Patamon, glad for the break, flew to his bed. Lopmon yawned and followed Patamon to her makeshift bed. T.K. looked around and yawned, settling down himself.

* * *

><p><em>A figure stood on a grassless ridge. Beneath him was a burnt valley with a dark pit in the center. He looked across the valley to see another taller figure, shrouded in darkness. The taller figure walked out and laughed. Piedmon. "Shouldn't you be getting to bed by now?" the clown asked.<em>

_ "As long as your around, I'll have to check my closet for stray boogie-men," responded the figure. He looked around and then jumped off the ridge, landing softly, his hand steadying him, "You choose a life of murdering. This, I cannot accept."_

_"And yet you, too, choose a path much similar to my own. But this isn't what we're here for. You have something I want, I have something you need, hardly a fair trade, but I am a nice person," Piedmon responded. He laughed,a high pitched sound that could make most people cringe. His adversary didn't move. _

_ The figure drew out a small book and tossed it into the air. It hovered there, waiting. "Your turn," The figure said._

_ "Ahh, you did have the book! All this time, and you still have it? Ha, it wasn't just smoke and mirrors! Well, its in better hands now!" Piedmon drew out a card and threw it at the figure. Before the figure could respond, he was enveloped in darkness._

_ In the darkness, the figure disappeared. He re-appeared back a few hundred feet, next to another figure. _

_ Piedmon laughed and looked into the darkness as he grabbed the book, "Fooled again, my friend! Even now, I grow weary of your tricks. No one plays cards as well as me!" _

_ A ball of flames shot out of the darkness, and illuminated the second figure in the background. The stranger stood there, his ruby staff out ahead. "I don't play smoke and mirrors. Now, the deal. You know what I'll do if you don't hold up your end"_

_ Piedmon looked around, and smiled, "You have an ace card, but I have a Royal Flush!" He laughed deviously. He was rewarded with another fireball, this one singeing his arm. Piedmon pulled out one of his white cloths and tossed it at the two. Immediately, a fireball enveloped the cloth, but a sword split out and hit the first figure, his chest pierced by the blade. His hood fell back, revealing a familiar face: Wizardmon._

_ "We shall meet again, but for now, I appreciate the free gift! This shall complete my power, and now I shall be able to complete what I failed so long ago," Piedmon shrieked. He tossed smoke into the air and left._

* * *

><p>Okay, so this concludes the 3rd chapter, I believe. I should be going away here, so expect the fourth to be uploaded quickly. A short note, while writing this part, I have just uploaded the 2nd chapter, so this chapter has been sitting in my computer for a little while. I have almost finished the fourth (it may be a little small, I might merge it with the fifth), and so I am trying to keep ahead.<p>

So, so far Wizardmon is the last new character I have added in. I might make Lopmon a main character, and drop the stranger back in importance, but the stranger is serving a Gennia-like purpose right now, he helps me keep my plot straight, while maybe giving me a clear option as a foil character for T.K. and Kari, sense I can't use Daemon. Wizardmon, on the other hand... I loved to listen to him in the 1st series. I might've made him the stranger, but it would cause too many plot questions (not that I haven't caused them already...)

One last thing, I know the basics of the digimon history, but I'm going to re-write it in one or two chapters here, combining a few different seasons. Don't look for series accuracy, I think season 1-2 and 4 may get mushed together a bit here with history. Just be prepared for some history mushing. By the way, I am going to be uploading on some weird scheduling. I'll try to stick 4-5 days, but again, I have a vacation here that will throw everything off. I tell you what, I'm not as far ahead as I wanted to be, simply because the next chapter has been a mess since I started writing it. It really is the major plot chapter. Everything after should be a start of a climb to a climax. I will upload next Saturday, about, then Wednesday, then a week later, assuming I have a chapter done by then. I really am trying to get the chapters out, but detail is far more important in the long run.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Gatomon woke up in a cold sweat and breathing heavily. She had seen the dream and was shocked. Could it be real? What if it was? Gatomon looked at the clock. It was 1:00 a.m. still, and Kari was sleeping.

_I can't let this pass, what if Wizardmon is really in trouble? Can I trust the stranger? What if he forced Wizardmon into that? How is Wizardmon alive? I have to go. _

Gatomon figured she could get through the portal without the D3, so she opened the window and headed towards the school.

* * *

><p>Lopmon woke up at roughly the same time, from the same dream. Opening the window, she looked around the small dark room. Patamon looked exhausted, his ears flopped on the floor while he layed on his stomach, paws sprawled across the floor. She left quietly as well, using her large ears to float lightly down the side of the dorm. The 3 story drop only took a few seconds, and she was off towards the school. She didn't know who Wizardmon was, but the stranger could use help, and that was enough. She slipped out the third story and parachuted down with her giant ears.<p>

In the school, she saw Gatomon silhouetted against the school's lights. Her colors, Lopmon saw, showed a great amount of deep red anxiety, but also a large swelling of yellow hope. They mixed together, creating an ever-changing orange colored curiosity She shrugged and followed Gatomon in. Gatomon made her uncomfortable, but for now, Lopmon had more important things to worry about.

"What was the point of bringing me back if I was just going to get stabbed? I really thought that you were going to give me a nice vacation," Wizardmon said to the stranger. The cut from the sword had been low enough to be non-fatal, but he was still coughing up some blood. He clutched his abdomen, where the sword had been.

"Lets get through the portal first. I'd rather not be here when Piedmon starts looking for us after they find we gave them a fake." The stranger replied. He helped Wizardmon stand up straight and opened the portal.

They teleported through the portal just as the door opened into room 57.

"Wizardmon!" Gatomon cried, seeing the two teleport back through the digiport.

"You had a dream link going?" The stranger asked, turning towards Wizardmon, who just sighed. The stranger's gemmed staff changed colors to a green as he started to work on healing Wizardmon.

"I figured that it would be a good idea, in case something went wrong... ouch," Wizardmon muttered softly as the stranger removed a large chunk of metal. The sword had shattered when Piedmon had left to cause more damage.

Gatomon looked around, totally confused still, "How are you alive? And why did you never get reborn by a digiegg? And who is this stranger? Every time he shows up, more bad things happen."

Lopmon creeped in while Gatomon said this. The stranger gave her a quick smile. She remained unnoticed by Gatomon, who was still caught up with Wizardmon being alive. The room was bathed in a strong green light from the staff, as no one had turned on the already installed lights.

"Yes, every time he has an idea, someone gets hurt," Wizardmon mused. "Let me explain," he started, as the stranger started to bandage his wounds. He flicked his wrist and his tell-tale hat appeared on his head. "Dark digimon and wizards aren't the same as normal digimon. When we die, we go to a place of darkness, referred to as the Dark Hall. When the Digital World was created, mythology was put in with data, and one of the myths that found its way here was the afterlives of witches and wizards. We don't technically die, we are separated from our bodies, which are locked up, generally by burying a witch or wizard upside down with 13 iron bars above us, and salt and iron would be sprinkled around the pit. A powerful witch would be able to bend the bars, so they could reemerge. Well, its very similar in the digital world. You remember, I was able to use my spirit to contact you, even though my body had been buried. Basically, I was reconnected to my body by him," Wizardmon said, gesturing at the stranger, "on the night that the three others arose. As for your 'stranger', he can explain that. _Ouch!_" the stranger had taken out another large part of the sword which had been inhibiting the bandaging process.

The stranger stared back at Wizardmon, who shrugged. Finally, the stranger sighed and said, "Bring T.K. and Kari here tomorrow. Only them, as they are the most important and the only ones I trust completely. Patamon can come, as well. Wizardmon will still be here, don't worry."

Gatomon hesitated before turning to go. When she did, she finally noticed Lopmon. Both of the digimon jumped slightly. Gatomon sighed and walked on. Lopmon turned to leave as well, but the stranger shook his head, and she stayed.

"Lopmon, I'm sorry for your loss, but you still have work to do. We can't have more people end up like that. When we're done, if you haven't found a place to stay, I know a person who has a terriermon and lopmon, and I can ask if he wouldn't mind one more. For now, sleep well, and don't worry about Gatomon. She isn't here to kill you, and she most certainly isn't working for Myotismon any more. Wizardmon can attest to that."

Lopmon looked at the stranger. Deep blue anger was mixed with light green sympathy. It would've been a beautiful color, but for the deep anguish that was radiating from Wizardmon. The black and red color had diminished since Lopmon had arrived, but it still must've been very painful for Wizardmon. With these observations, Lopmon left, leaving Wizardmon and the stranger seemingly alone.

"You haven't told them yet? How long have they know you? You really are still lacking some social skills. Gatomon stared at you like you were Daemon himself," Wizardmon said.

"Yeah, well at least he listens to you! I've been trying to convince him for ages now!" A voice said. There was a sense of humor with these words, playfully mocking the stranger for his lack of openness.

"Shut up, you two. I haven't told them because if I had, they would wonder about me even more. I will tell them some, but not everything." The stranger said, shaking his head.

"You can start with your name," Wizardmon suggested, "Don't you think it might be a little strange that they still call you 'The Stranger'?"

"Wizardmon, I still am subject to miss pulling a shard of metal out cleanly." the stranger said, showing his agitation.

"Maybe he wants to sign up as a superhero under that name," The voice joked.

* * *

><p>While Gatomon was able to climb back into her room with ease, Lopmon was not a good climber. This left her to be standing outside T.K.'s room at 4:00 a.m., trying to figure out what to tell him when she knocked.<p>

She knocked on the door with a story half-formed in her head, and was surprised when the door opened immediately, with T.K. standing right there. He frowned slightly at the digimon, and gestured for her to come in.

"So, what were you doing?" T.K. asked. Patamon was perched on T.K.'s bare head, his blond hair in a mess.

"I had to go to the bathroom," Lopmon said. It sounded like a lie, but what else could she say?

"And it took you three hours? I didn't think that T.K.'s cooking was that bad..." Patamon piped up.

Lopmon looked at her feet. She could feel the blood running to her face. She felt bad about lying to them, but Gatomon was the one who was supposed to tell them about Wizardmon and the stranger. Oh well, Lopmon would explain later.

"I saw the strange man in a dream and went to find out what was happening. I didn't mean to make you angry, but I didn't want to wake you. Gatomon will tell you later," Lopmon concluded.

T.K. sighed, "I'm not mad, Lopmon, I just was worried about you. Leave a not next time. Now, it is still 4:00 in the morning, so let's get some rest. This problem can wait."

* * *

><p>Gatomon had fallen asleep, but woke up easily at 6:30 a.m., well before the rest of the house. She looked around and saw Yolei sleeping snuggly in her bed, Hawkmon beside her in a custom build nest, so to say. The 'nest' was composed of some cushions and pillows that let Hawkmon sleep easily. He had tried to sleep outside, but had found that twigs and straw was not his idea of a good nest. Kari was sleeping soundly next to Gatomon. It was understood that Gatomon would sleep in her own bed, as she had a bad habit of getting up late at nights to go exploring, like last night, or to attend to matters that she didn't bother Kari with. this mainly involved torturing the dogs on campus.<p>

Kari wouldn't wake up until 7, and then she would prepare to go to college. Oh well, Gatomon thought, she can sleep later. She silently stalked past Yolei and Hawkmon, literally as quiet as a cat.

"Kari, wake up!" Gatomon whispered to her. It was best not to wake Yolei, so less questions would have to be answered and lied about.

"Gatomon, can't you let my alarm clock wake me up?" Kari slowly got out of bed and rubbed her eyes.

"Shh... Let's not to wake Yolei or Hawkmon. The strange man wants to talk to you and T.K. and won't talk to anyone else. He was... convinced... to tell you what's happening." Gatomon finished.

Kari looked at Gatomon, who just shrugged. Walking out into the main part of the dorm, she grabbed a few energy bars. She picked up the phone and called T.K., who answered on the first ring.

"Hey, Kari. What's up?" T.K. asked.

Kari quietly explained what had happened that morning. T.K. laughed and told her about how Lopmon had arrived early in the morning.

"Well, we better head out. I'm going to bring Lopmon along. If she was there yesterday, there can be no harm in her being there today," T.K. finished, "I'll meet you at his room. Bye."

T.K. and Kari arrived at room 57 at roughly the same time. So close, in fact, that T.K. caught Kari before she walked in the room. They walked in together, Patamon on T.K.'s head, Gatomon walking next to Kari.

"Hello T.K., Kari, its so good to see you again," Wizardmon greeted them. While T.K. and Kari stared at Wizardmon, Gatomon happily bounced over to her friend. Lopmon sat back in a corner, trying to not attract any attention. This wasn't her place to be loud.

"Wizardmon! You're alive?" T.K. asked. Kari had remembered to close the door and the two walked over to where he was standing. Surprisingly, the stranger was not there with Wizardmon.

"You can't kill me off that easily, T.K.," Wizardmon said. He looked at the computer, and then back at the two kids. He gestured for them to sit down, and he sat on one of the desks. Gatomon saw Wizardmon for the first time in good lighting. Wizardmon, unsurprisingly, had not grown since Gatomon had last seen him. He was about three feet tall still, and wore the same clothes that he had when Myotismon had killed him.

When Gatomon and Patamon had situated themselves, both sitting on a cabinet to avoid detection, just in case, Wizardmon continued. "The man you guys met a little while back will be here in a few minutes. He went to print up notes on your classes, seeing as this may take a while. He isn't the most social person, as you may have noticed. This comes from a very adventurous, secluded life. He traveled the Digital World for many years while you were in college, but he did so alone. You, T.K., were probably the first person he had seen in four years, besides Gennai. But he will explain that. Don't push him. Gatomon can attest to this, he was reluctant even to explain what's going on in the Digital World."

"Where is Gennai, by the way? We tried to contact him when the guy came, but we never could get in touch with him," Kari said.

"Gennai was talking to Azulongmon when Daemon attacked. Daemon was still in the Dark World, so he assumed that it was safe still, although Azulongmon was convinced Daemon would be stuck there longer. Azulongmon was right, it took Daemon 2 more months before he got out, but he was able to trap Gennai anyways," Wizardmon explained.

They talked for a little while, and Wizardmon recapped what he had told Gatomon about how wizards, witches and dark digimon were reborn. Finally, the stranger arrived. He passed out a paper to each Kari and T.K., with the college notes for the day on them.

He sat down next to Wizardmon. He was wearing a black polo again, this time with kakis, and sandals. His staff appeared in his hand after he sat down. He looked at Kari and T.K. before beginning, but was interrupted before he started.

"You know, I heard that humans start with 'Hi, my name is...' when they introduce themselves," A voice said. The stranger rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, Spiritmon, I was going to begin," he said. Looking back at T.K. and Kari, he began. "Well, I planned on him staying quiet for a little while so I could get through some history first, but that is Spiritmon. He'll probably show himself soon, but don't worry, he, unlike me, doesn't shut up."

Spiritmon laughed and appeared in front of them. He was a small snake-like creature with no legs or wings. He floated besides the man, seemingly having no care in the world. He was translucent, you could see an outline on him, but could still see through him. He has small scales that seemed to be present, but, on a whole, he seemed to be a spirit. Hence, the name, T.K. figured. He had two small arms, with three small fingers, one seemingly serving as an opposable thumb. On his head, he had two small horn-like objects that went straight back, seeming to be his ears. His mouth was agape, but again clear, with only two large canines visible. He had two long whiskers that floated backwards towards his tail. He did a quick role in the air to straighten himself out before speaking, "I'm good company. He would forget how to talk if he didn't have me to talk to, or yell at."

"Yes, my totally harmless travel mate. I highly doubt he could beat Patamon's Boom Bubble in power, even though he's in his Champion Form." The stranger said. He looked around once more at T.K. and Kari, who had just finished staring at Spiritmon when he made his sudden appearance. "Anyways, this is going to take a long time, but, as Spiritmon suggested, I shall start with my name. My name is James Abraham-Scott. You can call me Jim, although Spiritmon should call me Master. I have been training with Gennai for many years and I serve as his replacement now that Daemon trapped him in Limbo. I am here to tell you about the problem that the Digital World is facing right now, and the only way to do that is to go through a long explanation of its history. Any questions?" Jim asked.

"How come it took you so long to tell us your name?" T.K. asked.

"No questions? Okay, moving on," Jim got up and pure light started radiated from the top of his staff. The room was immediately bathed in the light, and they seemed to be in the Digital World. Only they were suspended in space. Pictures flashed around them, showing scenery and digimon that they had never seen before. The pictures fluttered like paper in the wind.

"Many years before even Gennai existed, and Azulongmon knows that's a long time, there was only one Digital World. This may not seem strange to you, because you have only visited one. But, at one time, there was only one world. Now, there are many more, I believe. But, that's ahead of where I am in this long story. Anyways, there was peace and unity between the digimon. There were ten great keepers of peace at the time, immortalized as angels." The pictures around them merged into a great throne room, and ten angels sat conversing. Only two were recognizable, Seraphimon and Cherubimon. There were eight others, but Kari and T.K. did not recognize them. All of them, Kari noticed, had one of the crest symbols engraved on their armor or clothes. She found hers on a female digimon angel with green armor and a spear. She was seated next to Seraphimon.

"Well, a war broke out, the digimon fought for a reason no one knows, but it got out of hand. A new digimon emerged, Lucemon, who solved the problem with ease. He talked to the two parties, and came to a quick, harmless agreement. At the time, it seemed that he wasn't corrupt. Because of his actions, he was referred to as Lucemon the Protector, or Lucemon the Guider, or some other names that hold little relevance. This war struck deep into the Council of the Gods, as we shall call them. Well, Seraphimon convinced everyone to take his or her greatest character trait and immortalize it in a crest. Before they could, though, Lucemon secretly killed the 10th Angel so that he could make his own. Totally fooled, the council voted him in as the final angel to replace the old 10th, and he made his own crest. Well, eventually, the original angel was resurrected, and he told the council of Lucemon's treachery. Because of this, Lucemon started a war."

The picture changed again. The heavens above were open with ten angels fighting one shadow-like creature. Down below, digimon fought and killed each other. Primary Village was blown up. The land darkened. "It was a long fight, but seeing what had happened, the 9 Great Angels sacrificed themselves to take down Lucemon. The Digital World went into the Horrid Apocalypse, and split in three. Ten Beast Spirits and Ten Human Spirits were sent out, thus the Chosen Children in one world draw their power from this. The 9 crests fell into this world. Only 9, it seemed, because the 10th angel had never gotten to his crest. Lucemon was trapped in the core of the old world, or so it seemed. Before he was sealed, though, he cursed Seraphimon before they sacrificed themselves. He split Seraphimon's soul in two, one dark, and one light. Both ended up in different worlds."

"So, what happened to the 10th crest?" Kari asked.

"Since it's Lucemon's, it isn't a nice crest, at least the one that we know of. The Crest of Shadows, which he used to help create his creatures, but doesn't really play in right now," Wizardmon said, "Now, let us continue."

"Wait," T.K. said, "You mean that there are more god-like digimon, and Harmonious Ones aren't the gods of the digital world?"

"Azulongmon falls into this later, he was supplemented as the god of this individual world, and thus is, but though he is old, there is an older power." Wizardmon explained.

"So that means I'm part god?" Patamon asked. He looked around. The scene had changed to blackness, just a few stars in the distance.

"You are a descendant of him, but remember, he isn't a God here. Gatomon could be considered a descendant as well. One of the ten was Ophanimon, the top level of Angewomon." Wizardmon continued. He sighed, "But again, you are getting ahead of yourself. Let the story play out more."

"As I was saying," Jim continued after the delay, "Seraphimon was split in to two forms. Both ended up in different worlds. But, before the worlds could split, Seraphimon made Azulongmon with the rest of his powers, so that his dark form would be contained. His soul then drifted into his new world, where he would reappear later. Likewise, the dark form created a portal so that Lucemon could trouble Seraphimon consistently. Both digimon lost a lot of power, and it took both of them a while to re-emerge. Both were much weaker than they were in the first world. Seraphimon took so long, that the second group of Chosen Children appeared in his world before he returned to his original power. The other affected Ken first before he was able to take his true form, Daemon.

"Wait, you're telling me that Daemon was a Patamon at one time?" Kari asked. She looked at Patamon, who was sitting on T.K.'s head, and then at the surrounding environment, now showing Daemon in the starry background on one side, squaring off against Seraphimon.

"And that Daemon is our current problem, yes. Now, let me continue. What Lucemon hadn't banked on was the crests that had been made by the other 9 angels imprisoned him in the middle of the world Seraphimon was in. Those crests are the one you have. So, over time, Lucemon created monsters that he sent to destroy you. Apocalypmon was a creation of Lucemon, indirectly. And that makes Piedmon, Puppetmon, Machindramon and MetalSeadramon all creations of Lucemon."

"So, all along, we have been really fighting against Lucemon?" Gatomon asked. The background now showed the Dark Masters in the Roman stadium where the Chosen Children had first met them.

"No, if you had been fighting Lucemon, you'd all be dead." Wizardmon stated. The picture changed again as he talked, now to the first battle with Daemon. "You have been fighting Daemon, indirectly. He acts as Lucemon's portal, but Lucemon can only send creatures that won't break the portal when they come through, so their power is limited by Daemon. Now, do you understand why Jim was so angry when you sent Daemon to the Dark World? Daemon's power multiplied, meaning the creatures that he will control did as well. And you two," He said, gesturing to Kari and T.K., "Are the only two that can stop this."

"Wait," T.K. said, "How did Daemon's power multiply in the Dark World? It isn't like power just is randomly multiplied."

"Because when darkness meats darkness, more darkness is created. This also occurred with Lucemon, he got so powerful that the only way to destroy him is go into his layer and kill him, which is why we only are here to stop Lucemon," Wizardmon said.

"No pressure, don't worry. As long as no one knows the fate of the Digital World rests on your shoulders, there isn't any pressure. I'm not telling anyone, don't worry," Spiritmon said.

"Why us? Why aren't the other Chosen Children important?" Kari asked. She and T.K. were holding each other's hand now, both looking worried.

"Isn't that obvious?" Jim asked. The picture changed back to the throne room. "Gatomon and Patamon are the descendants of Ophanimon and Seraphimon. They are the two that have to restore order to this world. They have the potential to be more powerful than Azulongmon and the only two that can now take on Daemon and stand toe to toe with him."

"But I've never digivolved to Ophanimon before, and Patamon has only reached Seraphimon once. Can we do it?" Gatomon asked nervously.

"I don't know. You will have to find out for yourself. Its possible, but it is now a race against time to see if you can reach the form before you're destroyed." Spiritmon said again, cheerfully.

"The story doesn't end yet, that'd be too easy." Jim started. The picture showed a 12 winged angel, looking like a small angel, changing into a dark form, crowned with seven different colors, each representing one of the Seven Deadly Sins. "Now, Lucemon's ultimate objective is to break free of his prison. There is at least two ways he can do that that I know of. One we don't control, that's in the other world. The other is regarding the crests, which is where everyone else comes in. If Lucemon wants in, all he has to do is corrupt the nine crests. Daemon recently discovered a way to do this by using the Dark Spore and Black Gear. Now, he can control the Chosen Children. After some time, the crest corrupts to its darker form, not the reverse always, just the negative part of the power. Of course, Hope goes to Despair, Light to Dark, but Courage won't go to Cowardliness, it most likely goes to Arrogance, though it could go to Defiance."

"So, basically like Ken going Digi Emperor again?" T.K. asked. He was picturing the Chosen Children, trying to figure out what each would turn into if they got captured.

"No, it'd be worse, because now they have a clear objective. Ken never knew what to do as the Digimon Emperor. Ruling the world in kind of broad to have any specifics," Spiritmon put in.

The picture changed to the crests, darkness fuming like a black gas around them, slowly changing to something ugly, the symbols all gone, and new symbols slowly appearing, but before the new symbols could fully appear, the whole background disappeared. They were back in the room again. T.K. and Kari, who had been holding hands and leaning on each other in the darkened landscape, dropped their hands quickly, as though to prevent the others from seeing. Spiritmon, observing this, attempted to prevent himself from laughing, and almost succeeded. T.K. and Kari looked slightly embarrassed as he covered up his laugh with a cough.

"You two don't need to worry, your secret is safe with us, just like the part about the world resting on your shoulders. You might say it was written in the stars." Spiritmon laughed.

"Who are you, Spiritmon? I've never heard of you." Gatomon asked, saving T.K. and Kari from any more embarrassment.

"Who am I? Hmm... I guess I'll try to explain. Spiritmon used to inhabit the original Digital World, but we were never numerous. I think we peaked out at about 100 one year. Spiritmon rarely die, but we also aren't reborn by digieggs. This is because the lowest form we have is a rookie form, which is basically when the only way you can tell if we're around is if we talk, or make a slight breeze, our strongest attack in the rookie form. The only way more are added is through total sacrifice of one's self. That means, basically, what Wizardmon did for you when he took Myotismon's Grizzled Wing. From that, a digimon may be able to be resurrected as a Spiritmon. This makes sure that Spiritmon are incorruptible. Well, those souls could be brought up once a year through a ritual. Generally, there was no one to resurrect, but occasionally there would be one. When Lucemon gained power, he hunted us down because we couldn't be controlled. He killed us by trapping us and basically stopped us from traveling. Over time, if we don't travel, we wither away and die. This is what happened to almost all of us. I had been a Terriermon that protected a Spiritmon from Lucemon and gotten killed. That year, two new Spiritmon were formed, but Lucemon invaded the ritual. He killed everyone, but didn't realize that two had been raised, and only got the other one. I traveled until I met Gennai, and then Jim, when he first arrived in the Digital World. That's about it. Sorry for the long story," Spiritmon said.

Lopmon, who had been quiet the whole time Jim, Wizardmon, and Spiritmon spoke, finally got up and walked over to the others, "Then where does Jim fall into this?" She jumped up on to the desks, where Patamon was now sitting next to Gatomon on her right. He poked Gatomon with his wing on her right shoulder, and she looked the wrong way. She looked at Lopmon who had just jumped up, and tilted her head in question. Patamon broke out laughing, rolling on his stomach. Gatomon, realizing she had been tricked, punched Patamon in the chest, causing him to roll off the table. Spiritmon laughed from behind all of them, as he went to try to help Patamon up.

"I don't. I'm here as a guide and helper to you two, mostly to protect you. I also am basically a problem solver and travel guide. I have been protecting you two since Kari became a Chosen Child, I just never joined the group.

"What do you mean by that?" T.K. asked. He looked totally confused.

Spiritmon spoke up, "When we first started, Gennai was nervous about you two, being the youngest. We had done a decent bit of traveling, of course at that time the digital world was all twisted, but we went out and tried to protect you. Was pretty easy, just made sure the Dark Masters never hit you, the Chosen Children."

"What? So you've been following us since Myotismon was destroyed the first time? How have we never found you, and why didn't you just tell us?" Kari asked.

"Well, to be honest, you almost caught me once. When you heard a voice that you eventually believed to be the Spirit of Light that told the story of Gennai and the crests, one of the times was Spiritmon, who had decided it was a good time to start a conversation with me. I have been around whenever you have been in the Digital World, but never outside. As for not telling you, would you've wanted someone protecting you? Anyways, we must end this conversation. The other children will be here, and we're going to go to the Digital World, mostly to try to find where Devimon and the other two minions are. Don't tell anyone else of your true role in this, or who the true enemy is. Its less stress for you and less chance that Daemon will realize how much we know if one of them end up with the brainchild of the Dark Spore and Black Gear in them," Jim finished.

With that, he sat up, and Spiritmon flew to his side, "Meet me in the digital World. I will only hinder your conversation." The two went through the portal, leaving Wizardmon, still bandaged, behind.

* * *

><p><em>"It is time, Devimon. My servant is ready to begin the project. I will be in bodily form in one day. When this happens, I shall be truly unstoppable. Leave me now, harvest more data! Once I am whole, you shall share the power as well! Now, take Peidmon and Myotismon and harvest souls."<em>

_"My lord, do you wish for us to start using the Black Shadow? We could run a test phase on it."_

_"And what would we accomplish by using it, other than telling those runts that we have a new weapon? Be patient, we will use it on some digimon first, to see how it works, how to remove it, how permanent it is, and how those children deal with it," Daemon said. The darkness lifted just slightly as a portal opened, enough to reveal a figure sitting on a high throne, another below him, bowing deep before leaving._

_"And Devimon," Daemon said. Devimon turned and waited. Daemon continued, flicking blue fire in his hand, "The Dark World opens in a few days, and my servant will emerge full and ready as well. If you wish, take him hunting. He isn't the brightest, but he is more powerful than you, right now. Do good and you shall gain more power than he can dream of in his small head. Remember the ritual I told you to perform when you're done harvesting the data."_

_Devimon bowed once more and disappeared. Darkness reigned once more._

* * *

><p>Reviews are good! This is an edited chapter again. Same as 1 and 2.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

If any of you were paying really close attention, which I doubt any of you were, you'd notice the parental rating increased to Teen. I actually will move it to M, mostly for violence, its not gory, but apparently fits criteria. Who knows, that part was never explained out really well. Oh well, nothing to sever, just safety. This chapter, I moved it up for mild violence and I think a little language, nothing major still, but you can never be too careful.

* * *

><p>T.K. and Kari still looked slightly stunned as Cody walked in the room with Upamon and gave a questioning look to the two before closing the door behind him. He was slightly earlier than the others, classes hadn't let out yet. "What are you doing here so early? You should be in, what, calculus, right? And who is that behind you?" Cody asked. Upamon jumped out of his arms and went to converse with Lopmon and his friends.<p>

"The stranger wanted to explain a few things to us, including his name," Kari began. She outlined the basic problems that they faced, avoiding hers and T.K.'s role, as well as mention of Lucemon, just as Jim had asked.

"And I am Wizardmon. I will be tagging along with your group on this adventure, just as Jim and Spiritmon will be, although they make take a more active role in being a guide, as they know the Digital World pretty well," he limped off the desk a little gingerly, using the desks to support him.

"A pleasure to know you," Cody said, very formally. Gatomon and Lopmon assisted Wizardmon, both temporarily putting aside their weariness of the other.

In a few minutes, all of the chosen Children showed up, in a big group. Ken was advising Davis on a math problem, and Davis was looking very confused. Yolei was walking right along side Ken, holding his hand, rather nonchalantly.

"Jeez, playing hooky much?" Davis asked when he saw T.K. and Kari. This drew a smile from T.K., who could immediately tell what Davis had been wondering about the whole day. He quickly recapped what had gone on that day, carefully keeping his story in line with Kari's, as not to raise questions from Cody.

"Well, Wizardmon, I'm glad to have you along," Ken said. He quickly introduced himself and the other 3 newer Chosen Children.

"I've met them, informally," Wizardmon mentioned. He turned and started to hover slightly. It seemed to drain his strength, but he looked relieved to be in less pain. "Now, let us not wait around too much longer. Jim isn't very patient. He wants to get to Primary Village today to talk to Elecmon. He's worried that the three Dark digimon might attack it soon, to cut off the rebirth system for digimon."

"Ah, screw him," Davis said. T.K. and Kari looked at him questioningly. "He just told you all of the problems with the Digital World today, and not the first day, and now he wants to lead us around? Sorry Wizardmon, I'm just not sure if I like that. Its overpowering."

The Chosen Children looked around. It was a good point. Ken rubbed his chin, in deep thought. Everyone looked at him. He normally had the most unbiased opinion of the group, so at times like this, the kids looked to him. When he looked around, he sighed, "I don't deny he has some flaws, but we all do, some of us with more obvious flaws than others. But, instead of looking at this from a character perspective, I have a question: Does anyone have a better idea than going to Primary Village?"

When no one responded, he nodded and turned to the computer. Worrmon hopped over to him. He was the only rookie of the newer chosen children's digimon, simply because of his greater experience. The rest of the kids got ready, and they headed off to the digital world.

"You know its sad when they forget the poor bunny," Wizardmon joked to Lopmon. She gave Wizardmon a soft smile. He was glowing tender pink, with the black pain barely visible now. Since no one had thought to grab Lopmon, Wizardmon picked up Lopmon. She was careful not to hit his chest, somewhat just to keep him glowing that beautiful pink.

"Oh well, lets go," Wizardmon said. The two of them disappeared as well, leaving the room truly empty.

* * *

><p>"What the hell?" Davis asked as they dropped into the Digital World. Primary Village, the quaint town with baby bricks making up it's tall towers, was in flames. Data had started to stream, straight up into the sky, with no where to go. Immediately, the Chosen Children sprinted towards the flames, dodging large falling ashes and debris. They ran on towards the center of the village, where the explosions seemed to come from. At this point in time, no one questioned why Primary Village was on fire, they just tried to solve the problem.<p>

"Get down!" T.K. yelled. He pushed Kari to the ground, and the rest of the group dived as a huge form shot right above them. The Chosen Children's digimon started to digivolve as soon as they got up. By this time, Lopmon came running up and rejoined the group.

Wizardmon quickly moved to the center of the flames. He looked back and yelled, "T.K., Kari, Yolei, you will be needed in the flames. Flying digimon can help rescue the trapped baby digimon!" He disappeared into the smoke, and the three he selected followed him quickly.

Meanwhile, Stingmon, Raidramon, and Drillmon all moved to attack the form. Cody and Davis had selected the armor forms for their ways of mobility. Drillmon could attack from underneath, and Raidramon could hopefully keep up with the form.

The form flashed again, this time appearing in the flames. It was Piedmon, two swords in hand, glinting with blood. He laughed, a cruel, high pitched sound. "You're a little late for the show, but that's okay! Admission is cut in _half!_" He said, as he tossed his sword directly at Raidramon, who barely doged the incoming sword.

* * *

><p><em>BOOM!<em> More dust, ash, and debris fell around Yolei, T.K., and Kari as they followed Wizardmon. Lopmon tagged behind, her huge ears flung out behind her head. She was barely visible, dark brown on red, grey and black. Angemon, Angewomon, and Aquilamonflew ahead of the kids. The soon arrived at the center of town to a horrific sight: Spiritmon and Jim trying to fight Myotismon and Devimon. It was obvious that the two former were way outmatched by the dark digimon. Spiritmon had formed a sort of shield around Jim who was constantly trying to douse the fire that seemed to be coming from Devimon.

"Grizzled Wing!" Myotismon shouted, unleashing a cloud of bats directly at Spiritmon. It had no effect, other than to continue through towards Jim, who jumped aside, but fell over. He struggled to get back up, his legs cut up greatly, slash marks all the way down.

"Hand of Faith!" Angemon shouted, aiming directly at Devimon. The attack was a direct hit, due to surprising Devimon in mid-attack.

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon shouted, aiming at Myotismon. Her shot also hit, but he turned and laughed. Yolei and Aquilamonwent to look for survivors, dodging still more ashes.

"Look what we have here, Myotismon, its a reunion I've looked forward to multiple times! Can you imagine a better place to meet them then at a destroyed village that they can't protect?" Devimon said. Myotismon laughed, both temporarily forgetting about Jim, who was crawling towards the others. Wizardmon swooped down to help him. They had a quick exchange of words that T.K. couldn't hear, and Wizardmon grabbed the staff Jim had been carrying and flew off to join the angel digimon.

"I truly regret that we can't have them watch the final demise of their friends by Piedmon, but he must be having a good laugh. Now, look what the cat dragged in! A small, treacherous whelp that calls himself a wizard! Now, we can truly start the get-together." Myotismon said. With that, he and Devimon attacked the two angels and wizard. All three countered with their own attacks, including a blue burst of lightening from Wizardmon. The following explosion threw Kari and T.K. backwards, into a burning cube. They landed next to Jim.

Jim was exhausted. His legs were bleeding bad, two deep cuts to the back of his legs. He finished crawling over to Kari and T.K. before speaking, "You two have to find Elecmon. He has a failsafe to transport the data to a second village. Do it quickly, because the data in the sky is slowly being absorbed by Daemon. Spiritmon and Wizardmon have the strength to keep Devimon and Myotismon distracted, but the five digimon here still cannot defeat them while all these Dark Masters are together."

"What about just digivolving again? Why not just send our digimon to Ultimate?" T.K. asked.

"My staff has a digicore, a gift from one of the Digital Sovereigns. It broke the barrier for Gatomon, but since its being used right now, it cannot multitask. I was keeping it open as long as I could, which is how Piedmon sliced me. Without Spiritmon, I'd be dead. I held out as long as I could to make sure Gatomon digivolved. Now, go if you can," Jim almost whispered. He had torn his robe, which was now really tattered from the attacks, to help wrap his legs. He was on the verge of passing out, so he rested himself slightly more comfortably against the wall after he stopped his bleeding.

Kari and T.K. looked at each other. Both of them were bruised, but they had flown into a cushioned block building, so they weren't beat up and broken. Nodding to each other, they started towards the forest where Elecmon fished for the baby digimon.

* * *

><p>"Trump Sword!" Piedmon laughed, tossing his sword at Drillmon. It hit Drillmon dead on, who had just come out of the ground, trying to surprise Piedmon. He fell back down the hole, causing Piedmon to laugh, "A game of Wack-a-DigiMole!"<p>

"Spiking Finish!" Stingmon cried, coming from Piedmon's side. The attack would've hit, but Piedmon grabbed Stingmon, mid attack, and flung him into a fire. Stingmon screamed in pain. Raidramon charged Piedmon, lightning sparkling across his body. Piedmon tossed one of his white cloths in his path, which caused Raidramon to stumble sideways, his momentum lost.

"Now, its about time you learn my newest attack! Now presenting, Mystery Box!" Piedmon shouted happily. Each digimon was enveloped in a box with three cubes. The cubes on the box started to turn left and right. All Cody, Ken, and Davis could do was watch in horror as Piedmon performed his newest act.

* * *

><p>"Crimson Lightning!" Myotismon said. Two whip-like red energy beams emerged, one in each hand. He whipped them at Angewomon, but they were blocked by Spiritmon, who solidified in front, using his body as a shield, channeling the energy through his body. Grunting with the effort, he swung around to counter any attack that came at the other digimon. His selflessness had saved the three others countless times already.<p>

Without saying a word, a small tornado shot from Wizardmon's hands. He was holding the staff sideways in his left hand, his right hand right in front of the staff, palm opened in the direction of Devimon. Devimon countered by folding his wings, dispersing the attack with ease. He reached forward and tried to grab Angemonwith his Touch of Darkness, but Angemon had different ideas. He dodged and used his staff as a battering ram, running into Devimon's face, causing him to flinch backwards.

Spiritmon flew between Myotismon and Devimon, trying to distract them. When that didn't succeed, he called, "Storm Front!" Nothing happened at first, but the wind started to slowly pick up, and rain started to fall. It was raining decently, and the wind was enough to make Wizardmon's eyes water, as he was caught in the crosswind.

Wizardmon hovered back between the two angels, and looked at Angewomon, "We need to get to shelter. That attack starts slow, but there will be a good downpour, and no one here has the mass to stand against the wind."

The three of them landed, leaving Devimon and Myotismon to square off alone against Spiritmon. Devimon looked around. The wind was still picking up slowly. "Where are your friends when you need them? They coward. Well, my small dragon friend, you may be made of little substance, but you will not outlast your storm. Now, stand still so this will end quickly."

Devimon's hand glowed with fire, a black and blue color, which he blew on. The fire spit like a flamethrower towards Spiritmon. Spiritmon Jumped into the wind, so that the fire would blow away, but got caught by Myotismon's Crimson Lightening. He uttered in pain, but continued on.

Suddenly, Aquilamon flew by. "Grand Horn!" He shouted, ramming Myotismon out of the way temporarily. He was quickly swatted down by Devimon, and rammed into the ground next to Angewomon, turning back to Hawkmon.

"Come on, Spiritmon! Only a little longer... Hold on, I got it!" Wizardmon said from on the ground. He planted his hand on the ground and grabbed the staff, "Earth Shatter!"

The ground split and a mountain emerged, which impaled Devimon. He grunted, but started hovering again. The wind was howling, lightning flashed above, streaking dangerously across the sky. The rain fell so hard that the flames that had been huge now started sputtering and dying out. The wind started to blow Devimon and Myotismon around, they could no longer stand straight. Nodding to each other, they left towards the data stream.

* * *

><p>"And the box draws you..." Piedmon said as he watched the boxes. The rain was driving here, wind howling, but not terribly bad. The cubes stopped spinning, "Aww, only de-digivolution... Oh well, I used to love this game from here," he said, pulling out his swords. "Trump Sword!" he laughed. They impaled the boxes, which glowed as the digimon inside got taken to their lowest form.<p>

"Now, let's open up the boxes, and see _your _final jests, my digimon," he walked towards the first box, now DemiVeemon's. Raising his sword, he stabbed it straight down...

But it was deflected. Davis looked around, where he saw Cody had jumped on Piedmon with his kendo sword. The wind was amazingly strong right now, and Piedmon, being eight feet tall, was being blown back. Cody had studied up. He beat Piedmon backwards easily. Finally, he drew Piedmon up against a wall. Cody drew a knife and lunged at Piedmon.

"Not today, my friend, I may've been bested, but you will see me again!" Piedmon cried. With that, he left quickly, towards the data stream.

* * *

><p>T.K. and Kari moved quietly through the forest. They had been moving by the river for a long time, hoping to find Elecmon, but so far not succeeding. They were aware that Lopmon was behind them, but neither party had moved to break the silence. They continued on, the wind whipping through the trees, but not effecting the three slightly weary travelers. It had been almost an hour and a half since they began.<p>

After another half hour of traveling, they finally started to head back, empty-handed. Kari was crying softly, looking at the burning city in the distance. T.K. had a stone-cold expression, his fist clenched. Inside, his mind was in turmoil for all they had lost, but outside, he had to stay strong. For himself, but more importantly, for Kari. Lopmon had eventually come up and was hanging on T.K.'s back. She was in anguish, seeing the colors of the city and everyone inside had made her whole body ache.

They eventually arrived back in the village. Everyone was bruised a little, but currently, there were more important problems to attend to. The data stream had disappeared. All the digimon were exhausted and some, including all in Davis's group, were hurt badly. Spiritmon seemed to be in some pain, but didn't look nearly as bad as Jim, who hadn't moved since propping himself against the block when T.K. and Kari were there. Lastly, the village was burnt, it didn't look anything like what it had. Elecmon was gone, most likely dead.

"We found a few survivors this time, but we can't do anything for them. Aquilamon and I had sent the older ones to go alert surrounding cities, and I guess we can take the digieggs. It can't harm them now," Yolei said. Davis nodded, but he was more caught up with DemiVeemon, who was just regaining consciousness.

Ken looked around and took control quickly, "Let's get to the real world, now. We're too vulnerable here." The others nodded, and they started to shoulder the digimon that needed help.

Spiritmon looked at Jim, and then at Wizardmon, who was tending to his own wounds. "I'll stay behind until we can move this big lump over there," he said, gesturing to Jim. Wizardmon nodded and went over to start helping Spiritmon.

* * *

><p>Back in room 57, the mood had changed. No longer was there questioning of Jim's flaws, the concerns were focused on the digimon. Hawkmon had a broken wing and minor concussion. He was by far the most injured, having landed awkwardly on his head, a fall that would've killed any other bird or shattered their backbone. Minomon and Upamon both had some minor wounds, but mostly, they had abrasions. DemiVeemon had slipped into unconsciousness again, and looked to be having nightmares. He had a deep gash were the sword had almost been put through him by Piedmon. No doubt was this the source of his nightmares, his near death experience.<p>

"Hello, is Joe Kido there? He is? Tell him that he is needed... Oh, he can talk with me? Okay," T.K. said into a phone. He had found one on the desk in room 57. It hadn't been there before, not that he knew of, but it helped.

Meanwhile, Gatomon and Patamon did all they could to help the others. Lopmon was trying to help find where the pain was, she looked for the deepest colors of pain. This saved the digimon the possibility of being touched in a very sore spot.

About a half hour later, Joe arrived, his medicine kit in hand. He worked quickly, bandaging wounds and making small casts. Within an hour, he was done. Everyone was tired, but no one wanted to go home. They sat around, talking softly, without purpose, just to pass the time. Gatomon and Patamon slept, the rest where unconscious. Lopmon sat in on the conversation, just listening, trying to learn more about the people she was around. The whole room was depressed.

"What's all the quiet sulking for? You guys got beat, now go reorganize yourselves and win!" Everyone turned to look at the door. Tai stood there, with the rest of the old Chosen Children, minus Mimi. They came in to sit next to the already present group, and the mood gradually lightened. Eventually, the story had been told, front to back, back to front, and every other way as the older group tried to give advice.

"I don't think Devimon should be that powerful," Izzy said. He hadn't grown much, but he had become a genius with computers. He was marveling at the laptop in the room as he spoke, browsing whatever data was on the new model. "If Devimon was taken out by Angemon, even with all our champion power, he should be uprooted easily by Angemon now, who is well more powerful, along with Angewomon and Wizardmon... Granted, Myotismon was there, but Devimon shouldn't be that strong."

"Jim mentioned that by sending Daemon to the Dark World, his powers multiplied. Could the dark digimons' power have multiplied while they were gone, in something like a dark world, perhaps?" Kari asked. Izzy shrugged.

"Just be glad that you got out of that alive. That was a brave move by Cody to save DemiVeemon. But, my big thing is, why do you attack Primary Village?" Matt questioned. He hadn't grown, but his hair had gotten glossier, if that was possible. He was holding Sora's hand, who was blushing slightly, a little nervous around the younger kids for no real apparent reason. "Can't you absorb data without it being up? If you truly needed a snack of data, you'd want those you didn't kill to be reborn. And there are bigger cities if your making a statement. So why Primary Village?"

"Whatever the answer, it can wait a few hours," Sora said. She looked around at the tired kids.

"Before you go, though," Yolei began, "How did you know to come here, and how'd you arrive so quickly?"

"We saw the battle playing out in our dream, which is why I was ready so quick. We called around, making sure we weren't going bananas, and I got ready to help you, while the rest started on their way here. We'll help you through this. Besides, what else do we have to do?" Joe asked. With that, everyone dispersed to their own rooms, tiredly walking and carefully holding their digimon.

* * *

><p><em> "It is done as you said it to be. The runts are still alive, unfortunately, but the village is gone, and the data collected." Devimon said, talking to the darkened silhouette of Daemon.<em>

_ "Good... in just two days, the Dark World will be open and Dragomon shall come forth. Now, I can truly take form. The 13 Digicores I have been able to make shall be given to the three of you. Each shall have two, as well as Dragomon having one. I shall keep the remaining five. Do not let these be destroyed!" Daemon said. 13 dark spheres circled about Daemon, and two headed to each of the Dark digimon. _

_ "When do you wish us to start using the Black Shadow, Great Lord? All of the tests went to perfection, no one has been able to remove it or see it." Myotismon asked._

_ "Patience... We shall start when Dragomon arrives, that way, there will be 4 of you to handle the now numerous children. Summon whatever troops you have, and get them ready for the attack."_

_ They turned to go, but Daemon spoke up, "Piedmon, stay behind. We have something to discuss." Myotismon chuckled quietly, an evil sound, and Devimon smiled. They both knew what the discussion would be about, but they left before Daemon could get angry at the for being slow._

_ Once the two had gone, Daemon turned to Piedmon. He seethed in rage, "YOU USED THE BLACK SHADOW AGAINST MY ORDERS! Did I not make myself clear when I said not to?"_

_ Piedmon, bowed deeply, silently hoping to get out alive. He spoke up quietly, trying to not sound so afraid, "My Lord! I used it on a digimon, and we can be assisted by him now. Can't this be used to our advantage?"_

_ Daemon stared at him. He clenched his fists and slowly released his grasp before speaking again, "I realize that there is some benefits to what you have done, but if the Chosen Children discover, they will be hesitant to come to the Digital World, and we shall never be able to catch them. Now, we must find a reason for them to come back. Maybe Devimon can handle it, since you seem incapable. Leave me."_

_ Piedmon turned and left. Inside, he was overjoyed to be alive and not even receive punishment, but he realized that as keeper of two digicores, he wouldn't be attacked for no reason._

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><p>One week vacation here, sorry. Please review, I will look over them before I upload the next chapter.<p>

I generally have more to say, but I got to get back writing.


	6. Chapter 6

Wizardmon had finally finished tending to Jim, who had woken up a little while back. He was pale from the lack of blood, and weak. Spiritmon had been hovering, making sure none of the Dark digimon returned.

"Wizardmon... did they find Elecmon?" Jim asked. He made no attempt to sit up, knowing Wizardmon would only push him back down.

"No, we couldn't find him. The kids headed home. I made a dream link, so you saw the battle, right?" Wizardmon replied. Jim nodded and looked around. The once green meadows of Primary Village were black, the building blocks blackened and destroyed. The fire was gone, but smoke still rose into the sky. The data was gone.

"I'd like to point out that this is Karma in its fullest," Spiritmon said, trying to lighten the mood. Jim nodded, seeming to ponder the though.

"When this is over, I'll have to thank Ebonwumon for that core. All I did was help some of his servant digimon out. That core has now become a huge help, and it will let or friends get to Ultimate or Mega," Jim whispered. He was falling asleep again.

"Let's move him back to the real world. Really, the core of a Harmonious One! I guess we have their help now, at least," Wizardmon said. He and Spiritmon returned through the portal, leaving Primary Village smoking.

* * *

><p>Kari slowly emerged from deep sleep. She had been exhausted. In fact, she still was, but there were things to be done. <em>I'm not getting out of bed yet... My classes can wait. If this is how the battles are going to go, we're going to fail college altogether. Right now, though, one day won't hurt.<em>

She looked around. Hawkmon was now Poromon, set gently in his nest to avoid hurting his head. He still hadn't woken up yet, but his eyes were wide open. Gatomon was bruised, but she was resting somewhat easily, laying just like a real cat in her own little bed. Yolei had dropped onto the bed, she hadn't even changed out of the clothes she wore yesterday. Her bed was still made.

Kari yawned and got up. She moved towards the little kitchen to start making warm milk for Gatomon, and some hot chocolate for her and Yolei, There was one missed call on her phone.

"_Hey Kari, Yolei, but mostly Kari!"_ It was Tai's voice. He sounded like himself, always enthusiastic. _"Look, Wizardmon actually called us yesterday evening, saying you guys would need sleep. I figured that you'd probably have the phone quiet so it wouldn't annoy the digimon during the day, so I called anyways. He said that you won't have to go to classes, its taken care of. Also, he is going back into the digital world with us just to look for Elecmon. You guys need to hang back. The only one of you that is even somewhat ready to return is T.K., and he shouldn't even think of going. Anyways, he said that if you want, the class notes are in his room for the next few weeks, but the grades will be put in as A's and B's regardless. Get some rest, you all are going to need it. _

"Kari, we could go..." Kari turned to find Gatomon standing behind her. She was bruised a little, but she seemed oblivious to whatever pain she had.

Kari nodded, "We'll go if T.K. decides to. Tai's just being overprotective, and I haven't seen the older Chosen Children in a while, but lets not go alone." Gatomon nodded and sat at the table drinking her warmed-up milk.

* * *

><p>Lopmon was the first up in T.K.'s dorm. She decided that it was best not to wake the two, who both had fell asleep where they dropped. She went over to the kitchen and found some fruit. She grabbed some, sat down on the window, and started to munch on some strawberries. She was hungry, as she went through a good twenty strawberries before stopping.<p>

Eventually, T.K. woke up. He started to make breakfast, nodding to Lopmon. He sighed, and decided to start a conversation, "How are you doing, Lopmon? You hurt?"

She shook her head before speaking, her ears flapping, "Not as badly as you and Patamon. I feel useless not being able to help you."

T.K. smiled, his eyes kind. Stretching, he continued, "Don't worry, when we first went to the Digital World, Patamon didn't digivolve once until he had to, and then he didn't reach Ultimate until we faced Piedmon and he was the only digimon left. Anyways, we're not all that bad, Davis' and Ken's partners are the ones who are hurt pretty bad."

Patamon had started to stir slightly, but he was still asleep as Lopmon continued, "Did you ever feel like an outcast from the group? I feel strange being around you, all of you who have known each other for a long time."

T.K. nodded. "We were looking for Tai once, and the whole group started to separate, and soon enough, I was on my own. Demidevimon convinced me that Matt, my older brother, didn't care for me. I felt pretty bad for a long while, I even followed Demidevimon over Patamon." T.K. recapped the whole adventure, from when Tai was lost to when the group was back together. Lopmon listened, and Patamon finally woke up and listened in as well.

"I got a call from Matt. He says they're going to the Digital World, and that I could go with them. Tai was supposed to invite Kari, but Matt thinks he might've been overprotective and not offered that. I'll call her," T.K. finished.

"Can I go with you?" Lopmon asked. She smiled when T.K. nodded. Maybe she could make some friends yet.

* * *

><p>"Okay, so here are the groups, as you wanted to pair up: Tai and Joe in one group, Sora and Matt, T.K. and Kari, and Izzy and I will make up the last group," Wizardmon said. T.K. and Kari had come in a little late, and Kari had been rewarded with an angry but concerned look from her brother.<p>

It had been a slightly teary reunion between the partners, most noticeably in Sora. She had cried tears of happiness when she saw Biyomon. Tai and Agumon had hugged, and even though Matt tried to be Mr. Cool, when he saw Gabumon, his eyes misted somewhat.

"Remember, Elecmon probably is unconscious if he hasn't showed up at Primary Village yet. Don't call for him, you might alert unwanted ears. Look in odd places, we don't want to miss him because someone was lazy," Izzy finished. With that, the Chosen Children headed back into the Digital World at regular intervals, landing at different spots along File Island.

Izzy and Wizardmon had ended up in the Southern forest. The searched around with Kabuterimon searching with a bug's eye view. "So Wizardmon, you said that Dark digimon and some others, including yourself, are reborn differently. How come we never heard of this?" Izzy asked as they searched.

Wizardmon jumped onto one of the tall trees to look around before speaking, "Gennai never told you because it was irrelevant. Also, it is a very little known fact, simply because rarely is the gate opened when someone is around to use it. We can't resurrect ourselves. Well, most of us can't."

Izzy moved on the next area in the woods, still finding nothing. He sighed. This search could take forever. "So, Daemon took out only three dark creatures? Why not draw more?"

"There is a limit of three creatures per time, and Daemon didn't get Piedmon out of the Hall. He was still trapped in MagnaAngemon's spell. I was the third, brought out by Jim. Also, remember that not all dark digimon go there, some like DeviDramon are reborn the normal way, just disguised as a normal digimon."

With this, Izzy started contemplating all his thoughts. It would take a while for him filter through all of them, but he had time. More time than he wanted.

* * *

><p>Matt and Sora had ended up in the Northern portion of File Island, the tundra. It was cold, and both took it as an excuse to huddle closer together as they slowly searched for Elecmon. Neither of them expected to find anything, but they searched diligently anyways. Above them, Birdramon soared, looking to find any trace of him. Garurumon was trying to sniff out Elecmon. There was no point in sending him to ultimate or mega, so Matt kept him in a lower form to conserve energy.<p>

"Sora, it's been a long time, hasn't it?" Matt asked. Sora nodded. She understood the comment was both about seeing each other and being in the digital world.

"We've just been so busy. It is nice to see you again, though," she said. She was rewarded with a quick kiss on the cheek, causing her to blush slightly. They continued through the snow, not finding anything. Talking quietly the whole way, they caught up on each other's life. Garurmon smiled, his big wolf ears catching everything. Birdramon saw the two snuggle every so often. She sighed, thinking on her own love life, which she so dearly wanted but didn't have. Eventually, they decided it was time to go, having not even found a trace of Elecmon.

"I never expected to find him anyways. Why would he be in the tundra?" Matt said as they stepped into the port. They were the first back, so the occupied themselves with gentle kisses and cuddling together.

* * *

><p>"T.K., what happens if we don't find Elecmon," Patamon asked. He and Gatomon both hadn't digivolved, as both were low on energy. They had ended up in the Western forest area, and both Kari and T.K. were reminded of the destruction when they saw the smoke rising over the trees from Primary Village. They hadn't found anything last time, but Izzy had felt it was worth a shot to search again.<p>

"I don't know, Patamon... I guess that the digimon won't be reborn if we can't find him," T.K. said. He and Kari slowly walked along, holding each other's hand, enjoying the time they had alone, but also using the other as support as they relived yesterday's battle. Lopmon talked quietly with Gatomon. It was a long, slow conversation that seemed awkward to Patamon. He listened in, straining slightly to hear what his two friends, for he considered Lopmon a friend, were saying.

"Why are you so anxious around me, Gatomon?" Lopmon asked. Gatomon had been nervous the whole time she and Lopmon had been talking, and it didn't take Lopmon's extra sense to realize this.

Before Gatomon could answer, a strange fog enveloped the forest. It was a dense grey-black fog that silhouetted the forest in the background. But suddenly, they were no longer in a forest, but a graveyard.

The graveyard was bare, old gravestones everywhere. Kari and T.K. held each other's hand tighter, and the digimon moved back to their partners. They walked through the murky graveyard, not really knowing were to go. They stayed silent in reverence, but soon, they came across more recent graves. Fresh ground had been dug up, and at least fifty plots had new digimon. Scanning through the plots, they came across a grave that horrified all present:

_Here Lies Elecmon, Guardian of Primary Village_

_May he enjoy the show from above, for he wasn't any good in the act._

_Piedmon_

Shocked, Gatomon looked around. All the other gravestones labeled a fresh form digimon, all signed and given a last message by one of the dark digimon.

The fog started to lift, and the trees almost became visible again, but more plots were revealed to the two teens. They were empty, but the stone was already written on.

_Here lies Hikari Kamiya, Chosen Child of Light_

_In Death, her light will lead the others into blinding light._

_Myotismon_

They searched all the others, each with another Chosen Child's name on it, until they came across T.K.'s.

_Here lies Takeru Takaishi's Soul, for his body still be alive_

_He, whose soul has died for his fault and who has led to the fall of the Chosen Children. The fate of the world crushed his soul forever. _

_Devimon_

T.K.'s jaw dropped in utter shock and horror. How would he be the downfall of the Chosen Children? Kari was softly sobbing. Patamon's expression mirrored his partner's, and Lopmon looked horrified.

The two teens looked at each other in horror. Kari tried to hide it, but T.K. could see hints of fear in her eyes, fear directed at him. He started breathing more shallowly, started thinking irrationally. _What if the tombstone is true? How can I stop it?_

"Kari, I have to go. I can't let this come true! I... I'll find what's going on here," T.K. said. He took off hurriedly, Patamon behind him. Lopmon looked confused, but followed T.K. after a little thought. Kari had started crying uncontrollably. Gatomon was trying to comfort her, but she was tearing up as well. The fog lifted, and they were back in the real world, with only Matt and Sora silently staring at Kari.

* * *

><p>Joe and Tai received a message, as did the rest of the Chosen Children including those who hadn't gone, about what Kari had found. She was still tearing up, but she had managed to mention that Elecmon was dead. So, the rest of the Chosen Children started to silently trudge back towards the portals. It wouldn't be so simple for Tai and Joe.<p>

"Tai, I can't bring digimon back to life. He's dead. We need to find out how to destroy the dark digimon now," Joe said, looking extremely frustrated. He wasn't helping Tai much, who already understood that, but was just saying whatever came to mind.

Gomamon and Agumon looked at each other and sighed. This group had been the 'left-overs', Joe and Tai had never been best friends, but who else could they be sent with?

Tai looked at Joe, trying to cool off before responding. Joe had matured greatly, his eyes reflecting his wisdom that went far beyond the bounds of medicine. Right now, though, Joe was struggling to stay calm as Tai bombarded him with unsolvable problems.

Joe was about to answer, trying to calm Tai down, but the sky unexpectedly turned black and stormy. The whole area had darkened, and the once peaceful woods started to experience a thunderstorm.

"We better get moving!" Joe yelled over the wind. They started to trudge back towards the portal, wind and rain hindering their advance. Gomamon had to cling on to Joe just to keep from blowing away.

They were almost in the clear, but lightning hit a tree near them. It quickly fell over as Tai and Agumon jumped back to avoid it. The tree burst into flames, starting others around it on fire. The group turned around, but quickly became surrounded by fire.

"The fire shouldn't spread this fast! Those trees were healthy, how are they all bursting into flames so quickly?" Joe yelled. He and Tai quickly started to look for an opening or water, using their shirts as filters from the now smoky air.

They were trapped, but unfortunately, that quickly became the least of their worries. As they looked through the flames, an all too familiar face appeared.

"Devimon! Can't you just finally die?" Tai asked. Devimon moved into the fiery clearing, seeming to expand in size instead of walk. In fact, he was expanding in size, to He looked at his partner, who nodded and attempted to warp-digivolve, but it failed. Joe and Gomamon had only managed to reach Ikkakumon. Joe looked nervous, but he started to calculate how to get out of the mess that he was in.

Devimon laughed deviously as all Agumon could do was digivolve to Greymon. "You should know better! I took the time to wait until the others left, so the Digicore you rely on is now gone! Now, hand over your crests, and come easily."

"Ikkakumon, blast open the tree behind us," Joe said to his partner. Ikkakumon turned to do just that, as Greymon unleashed a Nova Blast at Devimon.

But it was all for nothing. Devimon saw right through the plan, and shrugging aside the almost useless attack by Greymon, he grabbed Joe. Ikkakumon immediately turned, leaving no escape.

"Touch of Darkness!" He yelled deviously. He also decided to test out the Black Shadow, to see what would happen. The dark energy from the two attacks infused in Joe's body. Expecting him to warp into a villain, or at least begin the process, he was stunned to see Joe yell in complete agony.

"Harpoon Torpedo!" Ikkakumon yelled, finally blasting a hole in the trees. Greymon unleashed his own attack on Devimon. It would've been totally ineffective, and still was, but Devimon was drawn out of his thinking and into reality so harshly that he dropped Joe. Greymon was quick to grab Joe and the 3 able bodies ran out of the forest, only to hear a scream of rage, and two devastating words, "Death Hand!"

A blast of dark energy, far beyond any level of attack Tai was familiar with erupted out of the forest. Both Ikkakumon and Greymon were put back to their fresh forms immediately. This left Tai to shoulder Joe and grab the two smaller digimon. He was moving well too slow to get to the portal.

Devimon appeared, even larger than before. He now towered over the tallest burning tree, lightning illuminating him. His eyes glowed as he stared down at Tai. He was no longer smiling, but in a complete rage. Dark energy and fire simply radiated from him, having the same effect that a large rock would have if dropped into a pond.

Just as the waves reached Tai, a massive energy wave bashed against the dark energy. This wave seemed invisible, but rifts Tai's vision represented the energy that battled back. It slowed the energy, but did not stop the fire. The fire consumed the grass around Tai, and burnt his legs, but still he persisted, Joe still screaming in agony on his back. He made it back to the portal just as the dark energy caught up. He went through the portal, but not before seeing a green light in the middle of all the energy waves and fire.

* * *

><p><em>Darkness was everywhere, and DemiVeemon seemed to be in the middle of it. Not only that, there wasn't an inch of his body that wasn't in complete agony. The temperature seemed to increase with every cry of pain.<em>

_Then, a light. It was small, but it was there. Out of it, a shadow. No feature could be made out of the actual form because of the light. The pain lifted, DeviVeemon understood this to have been caused by the form. _

_"I give you a second chance," The form began. Small spheres floated around his head. To DeviVeemon, this could only mean one thing: He was talking to a Digital Sovereign. "Pledge your allegiance to me and the pain will stay away. Then, you can help me become free."_

_To DeviVeemon, this made perfect sense. The Digital Sovereigns were trapped and he could help them. They had given him second life. Now it was his turn. He quickly gave his allegiance. _

_"Go then, my son, but take this with you..." The voice was a whisper now, as one of the spheres headed to the small digimon. "It shall give you greater power than you have ever had," the form finished. The sphere infused with DeviVeemon, giving him a sense of strength. But all the strength could not help him keep his eyes opened. He fell asleep._

_The figure chuckled to himself. "Light blinds just as well as darkness. I believe that fits well here." He walked forward, revealing himself to be Lucemon. Shadows spread from him, and also from DeviVeemon, where the sphere had entered. "My servant, here is what I bid you, for you shall know when you awake. The Crest of Courage you shall corrupt, along with Kindness. Bring both owners to me, do not kill them. They will join their friend," the voice said. In the background, another figure appeared, a slim, feminine form. She was shadowed by a larger form, Daemon. Her crest shone behind, but instead of a color, a grayness was all the light that was produced._

_"Master, one of the kids was injured today, maybe even morally wounded. His crest may begin corruption now. I will punish my servant who did this, because he overdid his powers, wrecking the mind of the owner. If he has failed you, master, I can dispose of him," Daemon said. looking at the now-changing figure in front of him._

_"Unnecessary. If the crest does not corrupt fully, we have one more who carries two important crests. The Crest of Reliability shall be corrupted by the power anyways, and so the mistake is void. But, do not be so quick to forgive Devimon. He must be reminded that mistakes are not tolerated. Verbally should be good, maybe a little pain, but nothing to permanently hinder him."_

_Daemon nodded and bowed deeply. Lucemon smiled. Everything was working perfectly. Already, two crests down, and three more within his reach. Now, to plot for Hope..._

_The light faded away and everyone disappeared._

* * *

><p>Joe was in the ER under an assumed name. Surprisingly, Jim had been adamant about not using his real name, even though they ran the chance of one of the doctors recognizing Joe. The remaining five original Chosen Children sat in the lobby, hoping to be able to see Joe. Gomamon was a wreck, and the other digimon sat trying to comfort him. Kari was still sobbing softly, and Matt had no clue what to do about losing his brother. He had immediately jumped to go look for T.K., but realized that T.K. had somehow turned off his Digivice and was virtually untraceable. It then took both Tai and Izzy to convince him that it was impossible to find T.K., so he had followed the group glumly to the hospital.<p>

Jim and Wizardmon had both come and gone, barely arriving in time to stop them from registering Joe as himself. They left soon after, but Wizardmon had gone to talk to Kari and Gatomon before leaving. Jim looked impatient, and took off as soon as Wizardmon was finished, only staying long enough to tell Tai to have his burns checked soon.

The hospital was now empty. No one had realized how late it was. The clock read 2 a.m., and everyone was starting to feel the full effects of fatigue. The group slowly headed towards their respective homes, leaving only Tai behind, who felt obligated, and blamed himself for where Joe was.

_"It's my fault, guys, I should've known better. I was complaining so much, I hardly noticed where we were going... I'm the leader and I couldn't do anything to stop Devimon," _Tai had said. He then proceeded to pace for the next hour, slowly walking on his burned legs. He had refused to have them looked at even when one of the nurses noticed, claiming it wasn't as bad as it looked.

Izzy was the last to leave, and he looked at Tai before making sure no one was around. "Tai, if anyone is to blame here, it's me. I generally am the one who looks over the smaller details, but I overlooked the staff and digicore. I should've waited for everyone else to leave before leaving myself, so the staff stayed in long enough that we couldn't be caught off guard. Anyways, Joe is back now, and he'll be fine," Izzy finished. Tai nodded, forcing a smile. Izzy took that as his time to go, so he left Tai in the lonely hospital lobby.

* * *

><p><em>"And so I decided to add the Black Shadow as well," Devimon tried to explain, bowed deeply in front of Daemon. Daemon looked angry, but not as furious as he had been with Piedmon.<em>

_"Devimon, why is it that my only worthy servant is Myotismon? You and Piedmon both fail me, and my Lord is just finishing with his mistake. Do not fail me. Mistakes will not be tolerated," Daemon said. He snapped his fingers, and both of the digimon who had failed erupted in pain. The third watched in slight horror, but also with the satisfaction that he had yet to fail. _

_When the torture ended, the two stood up shakily and bowed. "It will not happen again. The pain I have felt will multiply tenfold on those who attack my Lord," Devimon said, bowing. Piedmon just bowed. _

_"You are dismissed," Daemon said, and all three left. A small figure appeared beside his throne, the girl. Her hair was black and pink, straight and long. Her face was pale, and her dress was less colorful, but the features were easy enough to distinguish. It was Mimi._


	7. Chapter 7

Another quick upload because I'm not sure how this week will work out for me. I was planning to upload tomorrow, but I mine as well do so now because I will be away a lot, and at this time, many of you may end up reading it tomorrow anyways.

I don't own digimon, although I do enjoy writing about it.

Please Review!

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><p>Joe was in the ER under an assumed name. Surprisingly, Jim had been adamant about not using his real name, even though they ran the chance of one of the doctors recognizing Joe. The remaining five original Chosen Children sat in the lobby, hoping to be able to see Joe. Gomamon was a wreck, and the other digimon sat trying to comfort him. Kari was still sobbing softly, and Matt had no clue what to do about losing his brother. He had immediately jumped to go look for T.K., but realized that T.K. had somehow turned off his Digivice and was virtually untraceable. It then took both Tai and Izzy to convince him that it was impossible to find T.K., so he had followed the group glumly to the hospital.<p>

Jim and Wizardmon had both come and gone, barely arriving in time to stop them from registering Joe as himself. They left soon after, but Wizardmon had gone to talk to Kari and Gatomon before leaving. He tried to reassure them that T.K. and Patamon were both okay, but that didn't stop Kari from moping a little bit. Jim looked impatient, and took off as soon as Wizardmon was finished, only staying long enough to tell Tai to have his burns checked soon.

The hospital was now empty. No one had realized how late it was. The clock read 2 a.m., and everyone was starting to feel the full effects of fatigue. The group slowly headed towards their respective homes, leaving only Tai behind, who felt obligated, and blamed himself for where Joe was.

_"Its my fault, guys, I should've known better. I was complaining so much, I hardly noticed where we were going... I'm the leader and I couldn't do anything to stop Devimon," _Tai had said. He then proceeded to pace for the next hour, slowly walking on his burned legs. He had refused to have them looked at even when one of the nurses noticed, claiming it wasn't as bad as it looked.

Izzy was the last to leave, and he looked at Tai before making sure no one was around. "Tai, if anyone is to blame here, its me. I generally am the one who looks over the smaller details, but I overlooked the staff and digicore. I should've waited for everyone else to leave before leaving myself, so the staff stayed in long enough that we couldn't be caught off guard. Anyways, Joe is back now, and he'll be fine," Izzy finished. Tai nodded, forcing a smile. Izzy took that as his time to go, so he left Tai in the lonely hospital lobby.

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><p><em>"And so I decided to add the Black Shadow as well," Devimon tried to explain, bowed deeply in front of Daemon. Daemon looked angry, but not as furious as he had been with Piedmon.<em>

_ "Devimon, why is it that my only worthy servant is Myotismon? You and Piedmon both fail me, and my Lord is just finishing with his mistake. Do not fail me. Mistakes will not be tolerated," Daemon said. He snapped his fingers, and both of the digimon who had failed erupted in pain. The third watched in slight horror, but also with the satisfaction that he had yet to fail. _

_ When the torture ended, the two stood up shakily and bowed. "It will not happen again. The pain I have felt will multiply tenfold on those who attack my Lord," Devimon said, bowing. Piedmon just bowed. _

_ "You are dismissed," Daemon said, and all three left. A small figure appeared beside his throne, the girl. Her hair was black and pink, straight and long. Her face was pale, and her dress was less colorful, but the features were easy enough to distinguish. It was Mimi. _

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><p>Davis awoke early the next morning. He missed basically the whole of the last day because of how exhausted he had been. Yawning, he got out of bed, and quickly looked around. Today would be Monday, so he still had some classes to get to.<p>

"Ahh, forget it... I might make it for cooking, forget about the rest," Davis said. He looked around. DemiVeemon had been tossing and turning, but now was laying still, a look of peace on his face. Ken was sleeping as well, although there were signs that he had been up already. Minomon had already digivolved to Wormmon, as he had suffered little in comparison to DemiVeemon.

Davis looked at the clock. It was 4 in the morning, and a good time to start lunch. He wasn't a big breakfast fan anyways, and everyone had grown used to that. He started cooking noodles, and was soon joined by Ken and Wormmon, who woke up when they heard Davis messing with all the pots and pans.

"Joe really did a good job," Ken said, taking a seat at the small table. Davis nodded, looking back over at DemiVeemon. Only a few hours ago, they had seen him with pain and agony that had been so bad, it had knocked the poor digimon out. Still, the problem might continue, Davis though. He was worried for his buddy, but decided to continue focusing on cooking.

"I'll text the others and see how yesterday went," Ken said. He moved to his D-Terminal and started typing, but quickly received a message. He read it out loud to Davis. The message had been sent by Izzy, who was the only one left able to write clearly what had happened without being overly effected by yesterday's problems. He blamed Joe's injuries on himself, as to take some pressure away from Tai, and also took responsibility for T.K.'s disappearance, saying he should've agreed with Tai when Tai mentioned that neither was fit to go. Matt wasn't even mentioned.

"What can we do about it?" Davis asked, awestruck that everything seemed to be going wrong.

"Nothing, not a single thing," Ken responded. He looked out their window, and started to try formulating an idea.

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><p>"T.K., we really should be heading back. This isn't right, something doesn't fit in here..." Patamon said as his friend trudged on. Lopmon was walking down below the flying figure, and almost out of sight of T.K., being so small, but she nodded anyways, not knowing if talking would help.<p>

They had been traveling for hours, but where Kari and Gatomon had left the world, the place T.K. was in only seemed to get worse. The scenery was dark and dreary, there was no color, but there was a giant lake. They were in the Dark World's Dark Ocean.

No one had admitted the fact openly, as if saying something would make it anymore real than it was. So, the only choice T.K. saw was to keep walking. And so they had walked, for days, or what seemed like days, careful not to have bad thoughts, knowing the Dark Ocean would grant them.

Up ahead, they saw something that finally made T.K. stop. A huge creature was emerging from the Dark Ocean. The small group quickly scaled the cliff surrounding the ocean and hid in some brush. The creature was terrible, with long tentacles for arms, twining together. He had many chains and rings draping his body together, or else it might fall apart. The head was like a squid, hung over many canines. Two wings protruded from it's back, making him look like some water-vampire. His skin was an unhealthy grey, and his eyes glowed red. Many Scubamon swarmed him as he left the water. He simply stood there, looking around, and roared.

Suddenly, a rift opened up, and a dark figure stepped through. Daemon stood in the opening, looking at Dragomon. He nodded. One of seven spheres floating around him passed to Dragomon, who roared when it entered him.

Seeing a chance, the small group crept closer to the portal. They could now see that the portal seemed to split into two dimensions, one of pure darkness, one of the digital world.

"Dragomon, it is good to see you again. You know what to do, the Master wills it done. Now, you have the power to do it. Begone, and enjoy your power," Daemon said. with that, he stepped into the black area again, and leaving only the digital world. The Scubamon quickly dived through the portal, and Dragomon moved after all had left.

T.K. and Patamon moved to follow behind him, quietly trying to sneak into the real world. Whatever had caused T.K. to worry so much in the graveyard was gone now, he had to alert the others if this new threat. Daemon seemed to have given Dragomon power, and not only that, he had been able to access bot the Dark World and some other dimension! They started sprinting as the portal slowly began to close, forgetting all need for stealth, but Lopmon fell and twisted her leg backwards. As the portal closed, T.K. and Patamon were left to care for Lopmon, their chance at escape dashed.

"T.K., what if that was what the gravestone meant?" Patamon asked.

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><p>"Jim, you know as well as I do that they will have to know sooner than later. What the next step requires will pull them all out of their lives, maybe for good. Look at Joe. Even if he survives, can we count that he will ever be mentally stable again?" Wizardmon asked. Spiritmon nodded in agreement. The three of them were walking slowly down one of the many side streets to the University. Wizardmon had totally recovered from his wounds, as had Jim. His staff was not visible, but was present, disguised as a small book with a reading light. They talked quietly, but no one was worried about being followed, it was just best to be cautious.<p>

"There is a lot we have yet to tell them. Now, we lost T.K., probably because you neglected to tell them the Prophecy. They saw it for themselves, and now they're scared almost useless," Spiritmon said, frustrated.

"I can't tell them the full Prophecy, and I highly doubt they saw the whole thing. We are talking a risk just messing with it ourselves. IT was probably written up by Lucemon, and none of us have any skills that can equal him. Not even the kids we have here. We all know in worst case scenario, we need to kill ourselves, basically, just to avoid his wraith. Is there any reason to worry everyone that the worst case is almost guaranteed to be the only case?" Jim responded. He and Spiritmon looked at a wall that blocked their path, and quickly decided to fly over it.

"Well, we almost are assured that T.K. has to be in the Dark Ocean. If we're saying he isn't going to be corrupted as manner of betrayal, it may be lack of telling, or of course, it could be death..." Wizardmon left the last part hanging.

"Dragomon comes out tonight, and we can't do anything about that. He'll have all his minions there... How do we keep everyone safe?" Spiritmon asked.

"There is only one last possibility, we all go to the Digital World, and take out these evils. Those Digicores Daemon created with the data might not be done yet, but he'll reserve the most for himself..." Jim trailed off. They had arrived at the University.

"I think we have to assume that the three minions didn't have cores when they attacked the village, but they were still massively overpowered. Omnimon, Imperialdramon, Seraphimon, Ophanimon, these are realistically our best fighters. Can these four do what we need? Can we get the two angelic Mega's?" Wizardmon questioned.

"Don't forget about me. I can hang with all of them if need be, we Spiritmon do have the extra power if needed," Spiritmon hinted. Jim shook his head, more to demonstrate confusion and frustration than to disagree.

"It will be a fight to remember," Jim said. He escorted the two into the room, and turned to leave. "I need to go back to the hospital. I forgot to get Joe's crest. It may help us."

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><p>"He's going to be all right. We will list him under critical condition, but his heart rate is being stabilized by machine, and after a while he should be able too stabilize it himself. He hasn't shook from pain since we put him on the medication, and his brainwave frequency is back to normal. Now, will you let us check your legs? They are burned badly," The doctor asked Tai, who was still in the waiting area. He nodded, but turned in time to see Jim walking towards him. Tai walked off quickly, gesturing that he'd be right over.<p>

"What do you want? Haven't we got it bad enough, and you keep walking around like you own every place you walk," Tai said. He was tired and fatigued, so he didn't control his feelings as easily as he might've, and everything that was just a slight annoyance seemed like a big problem.

"I need Joe's crest. It may have started going through a process of corruption. The darkness may effect the crest bad," Jim said. He knew the crest was being effected negatively, but he wasn't sure what Tai knew of the overall mission.

"Whatever," Tai yawned. He wearily walked off to where the doctor was waiting for him.

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><p>Yolei had been sleeping for even longer than her companions. It seemed that the fight had somehow taken more out of her than anyone else, but she also had the eggs to attend to. Getting up, she noticed that Kari had left, by the fact that her clothes were hastily tossed on the ground, and kitchenware still unwashed. This was uncharacteristic of Kari, who had returned and was sleeping on a tear-soaked pillow. Yolei shrugged, she would ask her about that later. Other than that, it didn't look like anyone would be joining her for her midmorning snack. It was about 6 a.m., still early enough to eat breakfast, but who cared? Cereal just doesn't always taste good.<p>

Gatomon seemed to stir, and Yolei looked back to see if they were waking up, but both partners seemed very much asleep. "Oh well, maybe Poromon will wake up soon, he probably has been asleep as long as I have."

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><p><em>Kari knew she was dreaming, but she couldn't do anything about it. Couldn't control her body, or whoever's body it was. She was in the ER again. No one was there. She stealthily moved around a corner, quietly checking to make sure no one was there.<em>

_ "Well, he's stabilized. I'll be back tomorrow, Dr. Heritchi. I just left an ER nurse on duty, she won't have to worry about anything," Kari heard a voice say. Whoever she was looked around the corner in time to see two doctors split. Then she quietly split past the two doctors into the room._

_ The room was dark, no one was attending to the place. She walked over to the patient. It was Joe, with IV tubes everywhere, scattered about seemingly randomly, but they served a lifesaving purpose. Moving towards Joe, the figure went to where Joe's tag should be, but was stunned to find it wasn't there. _

_ The figure moved Kari to the edge of the room, towards the control module for all the IV tubes. The person studied the cords for a minute, then selected a few and removed them. Immediately, the heart rate represented started to increase crazily, out of whack. The person left, hearing footsteps running towards the room. By the time the figure was gone, people could be heard yelling, asking who had killed the kid._

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><p>DeviVeemon looked around. He would have to be careful here, so none of the others would know of his new master. He felt more powerful, powerful enough that he might've been a champion level digimon already. Everyone was awake, so he would wait on his orders, but he knew what to do. Corrupt the Crests, grab the Chosen Children, bring them to his master. That was his orders.<p>

He moved carefully over to where the others were sitting. They were talking quietly. He could blend in fine with them, they'd be his allies again soon enough, all he had to do was play the game a little longer.

"Hey, DemiVeemon!" Davis exclaimed when he saw his partner up. Ken nodded, and Wormmon stopped eating his noodles to greet DemiVeemon as well. "How are you doing? Still sore from the battle two days ago? You were starting to worry me," Davis stated.

"Don't worry, Davis! I'm ready to go back and kick Piedmon's butt for that," DemiVeemon replied. He sat down and started to eat the noodles Davis offered him.

"Well, you may have to test that sooner than you want. We got a call that we are to go back and meet the group at the University today. We may be gone for a long time on this adventure," Ken said, sighing. He knew that no one was ready to head back, and with how the team had started to fall apart, now was not a good time to push on.

After DemiVeemon finished his noodles, the group got up to head to the Digital World, packing extra supplies. Ken watched Davis, just checking to make sure nothing would be overlooked.

They arrived at the room a few minutes late, and the rest of the Chosen Children were already there. They were talking quietly in a big group about the upcoming adventure. Only Kari and Tai remained apart, the two of them talking in hushed voices in what seemed to be a very involved conversation. The four newcomers looked around, trying to figure out what had caused such a silence.

"There isn't an easy way to put this, so I won't try to let it go easily," Tai began. His fists were clenched, his eyes closed. He slowly opened his eyes, and sighed. "Last night, in the ER, the doctors had Joe stabilized. Well, last night, someone pulled the plug on him and killed him. Kari said she watched the whole thing through a dream. Whoever it was was looking for his crest and couldn't find it. Wether a result of not finding it or maybe it was just the overall plan, they decided that it was time for Joe to... die," Tai finished. The rest of the group stared at him in shock, and discussion was about to break out, quietly and nervously, but Tai continued. "The thing is, Jim came to me last night, right before Joe died, and asked to see the crest. He then moved on to Joe's room to get the crest. I believe he killed Joe. As he isn't present today, I can't kill him myself, but I suggest anyone who does find him, should kill him as soon as they can. He infiltrated us and gained our trust, then killed Joe, and we can assume he also eventually found the crest and left. Joe won't even be buried under his own name now, as Jim told us not to register him as himself. At the time, we though it was just so Joe's parents wouldn't freak out, but now we know it is because he has no history, and no one will remember him. Unfortunately, we must continue on. We go to the digital world, find the dark three, and kill them. Kari says there is more, but we need to find T.K. first. Let's go."

With this, he turned and headed towards the single computer. The rest slowly and awkwardly followed him, still wondering what they would do without Joe. He hadn't been extremely close to anyone on the team, but he had helped everyone multiple times.

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><p>Next chapter should come out in a while. Just thought that was a good place to end.<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

Happy Fourth of July Weekend. I needed to upload this because I am taking a slight vacation. I will be taking my computer with me, but no guarantees on getting the next chapter up. This one exhausted a lot of time to write decently well. It was confusing to word.

Disclaimer: I still do not own digimon. Must not be for sale.

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><p>Everyone had left the room, but it was not empty. After everyone had left, Wizardmon and Jim appeared.<p>

"That didn't go over well at all. Well, you have the crest at least, right?" Wizardmon asked. Jim nodded. He looked angrier and more frustrated than Tai had, if that was possible. "Well, we should be going, they'll need us. I'll talk to Gatomon about this. I think telling her the Prophecy may be the only way to regain her trust. She may not even trust me now." He looked at Jim before heading to leave, "You didn't do this, right?" Jim shook his head, and Wizardmon left.

"This is going to seriously complicate things. Like I thought, the crest has begun corruption, and I can't fix it, and now I can't even be near the others without them trying to kill or apprehend me... What do you say, Spiritmon, you think Lucemon planned this one out a long while before?"

Spiritmon remained invisible, but he could be heard moving, which sounded like a breeze. "You mean before Joe was even injured? Remember, he wrote the prophecy, but he doesn't dictate it. I would say he had a hand in how it played out, obviously, but this wasn't planned to go like that. He probably wanted Joe to be the spy, and to start causing doubt."

"He did an excellent job. We cannot delay, though. I doubt that our help will go unneeded for long," Jim finished. With that, he disappeared through the portal.

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><p>Tai, after four hours of walking, quickly realized that walking without point was not going to solve their problem. He had a list of problems that he hadn't worked out yet. the dark digimon were super strong. They couldn't get past Champion level. He didn't know where the dark digimon were, and if he talked about these problems, everyone else would start worrying.<p>

Luckily, Izzy wasn't oblivious to these problems either. As they walked into an open clearing, Izzy moved to the front of the group where Tai was walking. The rest of the group had remained silent through the whole walk, as it seemed like it would be disrespectful to talk so quickly after Joe's death. But, that didn't stop Izzy from talking in hushed tones with Tai. "Tai, there is a digimon village over the next hill to our right," Izzy started, gesturing to a large hill. Nothing could be seen beyond it, but Izzy's computer showed a town on his map. "I know you want to regroup, and pretty soon everyone is going to be exhausted. With any luck, we may even find some allies that are already above the Champion level to help us," Izzy put in. This won Tai over, and the group quickly redirected towards the town in the distance.

It turned out the town was farther off than what they had originally thought, taking another hour to reach the town. By the time they got to the town, they were exhausted. The exhaustion had outweighed the silence, and conversation had started up slowly within the group. They were greeted at the front entrance by a Witchmon.

Tai looked at Izzy to figure out exactly who Witchmon was. "She's a Demon digimon. They say that she comes from a different dimension, and is in constant competition with Wizardmon," Izzy stated. The Witch Digimon was only a little taller than Wizardmon, not nearly as tall as the closest digimon the picture seemed to represent, Arukenimon. She was dressed in blue, which differed from the red one of Izzy's screen. She had a large blue hat and a black spirit-cat on her shoulder. Her hands were covered by large gloves with two claws protruding from the top. Her hair was brown, and extremely long, falling down her back. The signature broomstick was held in her left hand, and her cape billowed behind her.

Smiling, Witchmon looked at all of the present kids. She seemed nice enough, the group decided. "Well, Sepikmon was expecting you. I guess I should warn you before you go in any farther: This city is empty, and cursed. That is why only two of us live here. Don't worry, the curse shouldn't effect you, or your digimon. But, if it does, you were warned." With that, she walked into the town, and the chosen children slowly followed. The curse worried some of them, but if digimon lived here, well, it couldn't be fatal.

"Tai," Izzy began quietly as they walked along the deserted streets, "Sepikmon is a tribal digimon who can speak to the dead! Maybe he can help us find an answer." Tai nodded, not fully understanding the implications of what Izzy said. But, before he could really think through the idea anymore, they arrived in the town square. A large shack was placed in the middle of the square, with a small fire outside. It looked to be big enough to house a few people, but with no accommodations. The sun had now begun to set, and food could be smelled cooking over the open pit fire. Witchmon approached the shack, and entered. The rest of the Chosen Children waited patiently.

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><p>Wizardmon had followed at a distance, making sure that no one had seen him. He had been stunned when they turned off to the village, almost frightened. "How could they randomly end up there? The portal town of Witchelny! Witchelny was his hometown, yes, but also a <em>very<em> dangerous place for a bunch of older teens, or even young adults. And of all the things they may see there, all the curses! Daemon would have a field day if he knew they were here!" He traveled on, at a faster pace, trying to catch them, but he had backed off when he saw Witchmon. "She would challenge me to a competition! At this time, I cannot have that." He crept into the town, mindful of what he remembered from old books about the place, _'When Darkness falls across the most forsaken ground, those who have failed to pass to the World Beyond are resurrected, to quest for their lost cause, and feast on those unwary.' _This was not exactly Wizardmon's idea of a grand place, even though the spirits were controlled well enough by the town elder, Sepikmon.

He entered into one of the abandon buildings. These places, he knew from experience, had a way to hurt you on levels you didn't know existed. Pictures of old families sat in broken frames. Each room was old an musty, some creaked with spirits that still lingered. Some rooms, Wizardmon knew, had strong spirits in them, and he avoided passing into them. But to some, he payed his condolences to the lost and departed, trying to see if there was a way to send them on their way.

Then, he came across a new room. The dust had not really effected this room, and multiple spirits could be felt, of baby digimon. Screams of agony and sorrow could be heard, some forever trapped, reliving their last moments, others who had recently died, but lacked a place to be reborn.

_"There are two ways a normal digimon can die," _Wizardmon recalled. Wizemon had told him this when they were still in Witchelny, so many years ago, before Wizardmon knew of the digital world. _"One way be that can lack a place to reborn, like us sages, and evil digimon. The other way is that a digimon be old enough that it becomes outdated, and it simply dies of old age. When this happens, a digimon may pass to the World Beyond, where they are released from their troubles. For those who are not good enough, or have yet to gain the strength, they be trapped at a place called the Forsaken Portal, a place of spirits and curses. Aye, we Witchelny inhabitants must watch over those spirits, lest they be forgotten, or escape. Therefore, we be unaffected by the spirits and their evils, although they be tricky ones who will still try to hurt you anyways. They be tricking some to make them Familiars, a little blood and they be doing your bidding, but they be growin' stronger, and soon they escape! Other than the Hall, where we go if our mission be incomplete, this be the only place to find evil Spirits, but that how they be stayin' here: Spirits."_

Wizemon had indeed spoken the truth, but now, with nowhere to go, the dead digimon not harvested for data would be trapped here. The ones stripped of their data, destroyed, although some would be left alive, barely. Eventually, even they might gain enough strength to make it to the World Beyond, but for now, they would be trapped.

Wizardmon left the houses with a heavy heart, knowing that only more death would come in this fight against Daemon, especially if the Prophecy was true. But, for now, he needed to protect the still so young 'children' from the spirits, and hopefully they wouldn't be stupid enough to listen to a Spirit Song. Just like a Syrian in Greek Mythology, much could be learned, but at a price that most often proved fatal, or at least scarring.

So many dangers...

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><p>Witchmon slowly approached the group who had set up camp around the small fire. It wasn't a very long walk, but she moved at a pace that let her power seem to stream out from her. Over the past few hours, the group had learned that she was a lot like Wizardmon, wise and quiet, but she was also very strong willed and ready for a fight. When Sora had mentioned the need for help destroying Daemon, she had volunteered almost immediately, saying it had been long enough since her last fight.<p>

"Two of you can go see Sepikmon. Take with you one partner. He says that the Spirits will talk today, having been disturbed so often recently," Witchmon said, gesturing towards the door to the shack's interior. Conversing among themselves, it was decided that Kari and Tai would go. Gomamon was the obvious choice for the digimon, as he hoped to see Joe. Kari went because she wanted to make sure T.K. wasn't dead, and Tai went because he was the leader. They headed into the shack and disappeared from the view of the others.

Darkness had fallen across the camp, and spirits could be heard groaning now. Witchmon turned back to the main group. "This town is full of Digimon Spirits. They will be active tonight, as every night, but will not disturb you while you are under guard from me and Sepikmon. They will try to taunt you, though, so I suggest sleep. It is the best way to avoid being frightened here. If you hear a distant sound, do not, under any circumstance, go near it. A Spirit Song is deadly, beyond deadly, so please just stay here. You will remain safe here," She finished. The group looked around nervously, but obeyed. They quickly arranged themselves around the fire and tried to get some sleep. Unfortunately, the Spirits proved harder to ignore than they thought, and no one was able to. Eventually, conversation was started in the group.

"So, where do we go from here?" Yolei asked. The others nodded. This question had been the one question that everyone had, but no one had asked. Next to her, Hawkmon sat alert as ever. He was a little dazed still from the last battle, but he also took a great interest in the village surrounding him.

Laying on his stomach, Izzy had been working with his laptop, going through all his notes. Seeing as no one had offered any suggestions, he sat up and started to give out his own elaborate suggestion, "We need to find some Mega digimon. It can't be that hard to find strong digimon. Witchmon is like having an Ultimate, she's that strong. If we can find more allies, we may not be so underpowered." The others nodded, but still looked mainly unconvinced.

"Okay, where do we find the dark digimon? And how do we find them on our own schedule? I'd hate to not be prepared when they come around," Cody asked. Izzy shrugged. Some questions were better left unanswered. The talk eventually turned to the personal lives of the group, and what they had been doing. Witchmon had left, and no one had exited the shack.

* * *

><p>Kari, Tai and Gomamon walked into the large shack. It seemed to have two rooms, but the sitting waiting room they were in was all the could see. The door to the other room was blocked by beads. Chanting could be heard from beyond, and smoke could be smelled, but not just any smoke. It smelled like burning meat. The smell, though, was surprisingly sweet, and so waiting wasn't so bad.

Eventually, a small monkey-like creature walked out, a large mask over his face, and all that could be seen of his head was his short light green hair. In his left hand was a giant boomerang, with weird writing all up the side. His hands were clawed, and he had a long tail with a white tip. He looked at the three, and gestured for them to follow him. They followed him through the beads into what turned out to be an open air room. The walls were high enough that you couldn't see over them, but there was no roof. A fire burned in the middle of the area. They all took seats around the fire, following Sepikmon's gestures. He started speaking in another language, a low, deep voice which rose higher as he went on. Spirits started to form, some disappearing afterwards, some staying. Eventually, the area was filled with spirits circling. When he was done speaking, only two spirits remained.

"Joe!" Gomamon exclaimed at the sight of his friend. Joe was white and wispy, like the rest of the spirits.

"Ahh! Where am I? I was just at the hospital a minute ago!" Joe cried. He looked around, and noticed that he was floating. It took him a minute to get over his hysteria, while Sepikmon waited.

Tai quickly explained what had happened, to which Joe was stunned. "I'm dead? This isn't good! I was so young!" He said.

By this time, the other spirit had fully made there appearance known. It was Elecmon. Kari's and Tai's eyes widened as they finally recognized the digimon.

"Joe, please calm down. Yes, you are dead, but you are able to speak right now. Therefore, do something positive other than frighten people. I'm dead as well, you don't see me complaining. This is like a vacation, almost. Think of it this way, your spirit has no where to go, which is weird, since you are a human and you should bypass our laws. This means you have something to do yet, which makes me think that you can help the kids here somehow. Any ideas?" Elecmon asked.

Joe closed his jaw and shrugged, "How can I help? I can't really do much..." He stated, waving his arms in the air. Gomamon smiled. At least it was the same old Joe, maybe a little translucent and wispy, but still Joe.

"I know!" Kari exclaimed. The group looked at her. "Joe, who killed you? We are still trying to figure that out ourselves."

"Like I said, the last thing I remember is being in the hospital room. I remember the doctors had woken me after a while because the anesthesia had worn off. They left and someone crept in. I fell asleep as I saw the person walk through the door, which is strange, I normally would become more alert. Well, I woke up a little later to see another person messing around with the monitors. That's the last I remember," Joe said. Tai nodded.

"Was the first and second person the same? Could they have been, because Kari said that the person she viewed through looked for your crest, and then pulled the plug on you, literally," Tai asked. Joe shook his head. No, they had not been the same person. "Okay, so the first was Jim, it had to be, because I know he talked to me right before going in, and the doctor had just told me you were stabilized. Who was the second?"

Gomamon had been attentive, but suddenly spoke up, "Joe, I didn't know you had a spirit girl friend! Why didn't you tell us?" The group looked at Gomamon, who pointed to Joe's right cheek. Barely visible was what looked to be lipstick, mimicking what appeared to be lips.

"What are you talking about, Gomamon? I just woke up! I didn't even know I was dead, let alone had time to find a girl friend!" Joe exclaimed. Kari showed him a mirror, which he attempted, and failed, to grab, but was shocked to see the smooch-mark.

"Well, this changes things," Elecmon stated sarcastically.

* * *

><p>The group sat sleeping, or at least most of them were. Gatomon waited patiently for her partner to appear from the shack. It had been a long time. She figured that it was about midnight, seeing as the group had almost literally set up camp at 6 o'clock to sleep. They had talked for a few hours, but then drifted off to sleep by 8, easily. This left Gatomon alone, and she was a very bored digi-kitty.<p>

Suddenly, there was a shadow above her, and a hand over her mouth. She tried to move, but couldn't, until she heard the voice, "Shh, Gatomon, its me," Wizardmon started, "You have to be quiet so you don't alert Witchmon. Its better she doesn't know I am here." He slowly released his grip on her, and gestured for her to follow. She did, quietly following Wizardmon, who seemed to disappear in the shadows. Well, she was pretty sneaky herself, when she wanted to be.

Eventually, the two ended up beyond the city limits, on top of the hill the city sat on. The spirits were no longer able to be heard. The night was clear and beautiful, and the starts were shining brightly, casting down a beautiful white light on the ground. The place was dead silent, but alive at the same time. The stars seemed to have their own little voice which spoke softly to the Earth, lulling it to sleep. Wizardmon sat down on the hill, and leaned back, gazing at the stars. Gatomon plopped down besides him, and waited for him to begin.

"This place is a portal town to where I came from, a dimension known as Witchenly. The place was filled with many magical creatures such as myself, but I never truly loved the place. Being 'born' there, I have no parents, no family, just like all the others there. See, in Witchenly, there is no such thing as 'parents', you just were. Sometimes, our worlds are like that as well, it just is. Unfortunately, now is not one of those times, as we cannot just accept it as is, we must change it. Changing the world is difficult, changing and saving the multiple worlds is almost impossible, yet you have managed this before," Wizardmon trailed off, srill staring at the stars. Gatomon layed back and did so as well, looking at the numerous stars in the sky. It was truly relaxing.

Wizardmon pulled something out of his robes, a scroll of sorts, along with what appeared to be dust. "I am going to tell you the Prophecy that was set forth for this mission. The problem is, a prophecy can never just be told, it must be seen for someone to see the true meaning. Like what you were shown with Kari and T.K., I must show you some of the visions of the future, these visions that will effect the Prophecy. Since the only way to accomplish that is through star dust, it is best to do so under the stars," he started. The dust he had, he tossed in the air. Instead of falling to the ground, it hovered, suspended in midair, and started to reflect the starlight into images with no purpose. "Beware, Gatomon, prophecies are never what they seem. It is also best that you tell no one, absolutely no one. Not even Kari. The only reason you can know is because of your lineage to the Angels. Since Patamon is not here, he cannot listen in either, and telling him afterwards would be pointless because of the lack of a way to describe what you have seen," the images flicked into deep space, where there was no stars to be seen, but someone could be felt. "Now, the worst news to give. Prophecies are written by powerful beings who are long skilled in the art. It takes many Centuries of practice, and even then only a basic prophecy can be made. Lucemon was the creator of this prophecy, and he has had many Millennia to practice with. That being said, you can direct, not control, a Prophecy, and even then, there has to be ways that both parties can achieve victory. He has just made your ways to win very small."

The stardust suddenly exploded in light and surrounded the two. The picture changed to the crests, this time next to a mirror, each crest with their normal next to their corrupt version. Wizardmon began slowly, "The crests that 9 kids do guard, will be joined by a tenth, old and unknown. The crest of one so evil himself, he caused a war for power, and the world to split." The stardust showed a tenth crest now, with no corrupt part, a dull grey-blue. The symbol on it looked simply like an old shield with an engraved question mark in the middle. "These ten crests stand alone against the one so powerful that the gods of old were destroyed simply by trying to restrain his power. Now, he has another crest, one more powerful than any other, the crest of corruption. He alone wields it's might, for he alone can be called the Corrupt One." Another crest was seen, one of pure black, with a grey fog in the crest itself. The symbol itself was hidden by the fog.

The picture flashed to the Chosen Children. They were shown when they gave up the crest powers to the digital world. Wizardmon turned to Gatomon. "This was the preamble of the real prophecy. But, two things should be noticed. There are ten, not nine crests of good. The tenth was made by Lucemon. Unfortunately, that crest then had no need to be corrupted. Second, Lucemon made himself another Crest later, the Crest of Corruption. This crest represents the corruption of power more than anything else, and it corrupts the Chosen Children's crest. How, I really don't know. Now, let's continue to the part that is representing right now. It isn't pretty."

The image changed to the graveyard, where Kari and T.K. had split. "One by one the crests will fall. The powers will quickly grow of the one locked away in the deep. The fate of the world will rest on two, but tragedy will strike." The scene changed again, to a dark canyon. Kari was laying on the ground, T.K. kneeling over her, crying. Blood pooled around her. A dark voice was heard laughing in the background. The crests will fall until only Hope remains." The stardust reflected a picture of the Dark Ocean, T.K. standing alone. He was walking aimlessly, seemingly oblivious that in front of him was just darkness. "But, Hope alone cannot save the others, for hope thrives in the smallest light. Lost in his own mistakes, he shall corrupt himself, for he died with Light." Pictures flashed of T.K. and Kari together, times that had already happened, and times that seemed to be dreams from both of them. "In his despair, he will see clearly. Light had blinded him better than darkness ever could. He shall finally see the traitor that brought the world to its knees." A figure stood in the background, laughing mercilessly. To his sides, many silhouettes appeared, all of them of the Chosen Children. "But, a final moment of glory shall arise, a final hope at salvation. Hope shall seize the chance, but he shall be too late. Lost will be the chance of victory, the greatest power will have escaped," Wizardmon finished, and the stardust stopped displaying pictures.

Gatomon was speechless. She had just seem Kari dying, heard that Lucemon would escape, and know knew that there was a traitor among them. Wizardmon slowly collected the scroll he had read and gestured to the stardust, causing it to return into his capsule. He looked at Gatomon, and then stared up at the stars again, "Now, I need to tell you this: Lucemon's crest is the crest of protection and guidance. It may not be his, but he can use it. Lucemon made it because guidance can always be wrong, and protection can fail. The others wondered why he made it at first, because it was seemingly weak. He used the crest to misguide many, but it was found many years back by Gennai. Now, Jim holds the crest."

* * *

><p>Izzy hadn't been able to sleep, the spirits kept waking him. They reminded him of how there was no way out of this problem he was in. So, he took a walk. The town was surprisingly quiet outside the camp, and no spirits bothered him for a while. This didn't help his thinking though.<p>

He saw a few spirits on his way, but they stayed away from him. Finally, a spirit approached him. It seemed to be a real young digimon, smiling. Izzy looked at the digimon, who started talking to Izzy, "You look like you need help, Guard of Knowlege. Is there anything I can do for you? When I was alive, I was a good problem solver."

Izzy was slightly surprised that the digimon knew his crest, but decided there was no harm in asking a few questions. "How do you know who I am?" he asked.

The spirit became slightly more visible, showing that he was a small angel, "I helped create the crests," He said, smiling. "You probably want to know how to defeat the darkness. I cannot help you with this, but I know where you can find the help, and how to accomplish this. Would you like my assistance?" He asked. Izzy nodded. So, the spirit-angel floated off, gesturing for Izzy to follow. "Well, the only way that you can know all the answers here is through the Spirit Song, and I know the way to stay safe listening to it. Follow me." The two walked off towards the sound of the shrill screams, and the lovely but deathly harmony.

* * *

><p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Can I say that that last paragraph has been one of my favorites in this whole story so far? I feel slightly manipulative, and I am really going to play with that. Please review, and try to avoid some spoilers, just so readers don't know whats going on by reading the reviews.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

This chapter was written while I was going down a bumpy road. While I don't think there are any grammar errors, please excuse them if you find any. It may seem that I am focusing a little too much on one character, nope, that's just to keep this moving along, as I have to get the plot rolling full speed ahead here, and I do by the end of this chapter. I'm starting to understand what some of you like (explosions, right?)

* * *

><p>"Spiritmon, you ever wonder what it would be like here if we could just finally relax? There is always something we have to do here, and we never did complete out tour of the digital world," Jim stated. The two of them had decided it would be best for them to hang far behind the others for now, and they were just finally arriving at the village. Spiritmon was visible for the moment, and so Jim could see him give a shrug.<p>

"We never expected to complete that anyways. In fact, I'd say for the four years we had, we covered a good bit of ground, especially since we decided to learn about everything about each place we visited. Now, here we are at the Town of the Spirits again. Full circuit, aye?" Spiritmon responded. When Jim returned Spiritmon's shrug, he continued, "Well, you have to figure, it was fitting you met me here. Other than the fact you took me for a Spirit looking for a Blood Wizard..." He trailed off.

"Every other spirit here was looking to become a Familiar. I wasn't going to involve myself in Blood Magic, that's a deadly chore." Jim stated. It was true, he had stumbled across the Town of Spirits before, and the spirits that wanted to escape generally looked for those stupid enough to exchange blood for a servant. Once the spirit became powerful enough though, a host of problems was presented, including some spirits processing their 'master'. "Wouldn't that be great if one of our friends decided to hook up with a Familiar... As if we need more complications." The two continued on their quiet walk through the rundown city, ignoring the cries of the lingering morning spirits.

* * *

><p>Veemon was the first to wake up. He sighed and looked around. Izzy was missing, he saw. Well, that didn't matter, he had a job to do, and it was a good time to start. It was simple, but he would be in a world of hurt if he failed this job. He didn't have to go far to where Davis was sleeping, but the crest he wanted would be harder to get at. Having no true tag and crest, the younger Chosen Children would have to be corrupted through their D3. To corrupt the person was different than the crest, but Davis could wait. Courage was the goal.<p>

_I bet Davis has his D3 in his bag. He rarely keeps it on him when he doesn't need it, _Veemon though. He walked over to the bag and found the D3 sitting conveniently on top of all the other junk which Davis had taken along. _Well, maybe not all of it is junk, but other than the food, who could find a use for this anyways? _He looked at the food, mostly chocolate, and sighed. _Well, I guess I am a little hungry. Besides, if anyone asks, I was getting a snack. _He quickly grabbed a candy bar, looking around to see if anyone was watching. No one was. _Let's see, what was I supposed to do? Oh yeah, push this button, flick this little switch, and then... _Veemon inserted a small chip into the D3. The D3 beeped once, accepting the chip, and then quieted up. _Bingo! _His job complete, Veemon returned the D3 and went on happily snacking on his candy bar.

* * *

><p>The rest of the group had woken up, and breakfast was quickly started. Both Joe and Mimi were gone, so the cooking wasn't as good, but the group still managed a good breakfast. Gatomon had gone looking for a stream, in vain. On her way, she was hoping to see Wizardmon, but he was no where to be seen. Nor was Izzy, though Tai figured it was just Izzy trying to learn more.<p>

"Well Davis, I guess that going to college for cooking may actually pay off," Cody mentioned to Davis as Davis attempted to prepare breakfast. Though it was not his specialty, he was doing a good job with what they had, mainly dry foods.

"Erm, was that supposed to be a compliment, Cody?" Davis asked cautiously. Cody smiled and shrugged. The rest of the group was talking, and the mood was a lot better than it had been the previous day. Talks of where they were headed was prominent, and Tai seemed to be handling the questions well. He had explained what they had seen, and even a little bit afterwards. _"Sepikmon, in his basic form of communication, told us that a more dangerous spirit had shown up recently, and had been disturbing the place. He said the spirit was strong enough that he could not even find the spirit. Be careful, whatever the spirit is, it is probably not friendly."_

Breakfast was good. The group ate their fill and decided to try to restock before they left. Izzy still hadn't returned, so Tai decided that it was time to find him. Kari, Sora, Matt, Yolei and Ken went to go find some supplies, which hopefully would consist of berries, firewood, herbs and maybe even some fish if Gatomon could find a stream this time. Tai, Cody and Davis headed off to search for Izzy.

* * *

><p>Wizardmon met up with Jim and Spiritmon soon after the latter two entered the town. He had been carefully concealing himself from Witchmon, both physically and magically.<p>

"How did the retelling go?" Jim asked. Wizardmon shrugged. He gestured to one of the houses off to the side, and walked in. The house was quiet and roomy. Wizardmon had worked hard to clean the place up, as he wasn't sure how long he'd be spending there.

Once the three were situated, Wizardmon pulled out the vile of stardust and handed it to Jim. "I'd say she took the news pretty well, seeing she saw her partner's death and the destruction of the Digital World. I don't know how much better you can take that news. It has been difficult staying out of Witchmon's sight. She is powerful."

"Fret not, young Wizardmon, you are strong in the Force," Spiritmon joked. Jim rolled his eyes and Wizardmon chuckled.

"Spiritmon, we spend over four years at a time in the Digital World, and I still have to put up with corny movie jokes," Jim said. Turning back to Wizardmon, he asked, "Anything interesting happen otherwise? I figure that they have already talked with Sepikmon, so you can exclude that."

"I haven't really been out much, but I caught wind of something about the group losing Izzy," Wizardmon said. Jim closed his eyes. This could be bad.

* * *

><p>Witchmon slowly walked out of Sepikmon's shack, and sniffed the air. <em>Smells of blood. Not only that, it smells of blood and spirits. That's <em>never_ good. _She started walking towards the scent and stopped. _Smells like I have company. Oh well, I, unlike others, have my priorities straight. I will challenge him later._

* * *

><p>Cody was the first to see Izzy. He was tied to a tree, unconscious, bloodied and bruised. His face was cut up, his jacket tattered. The three young men quickly ran over to him to get some help, but noticed a small spirit already tending to Izzy.<p>

"Who are you and what do you want?" Tai asked, immediately suspicious. The small spirit looked at Tai and gave him a friendly smile, but continued tending to Izzy.

"I am a friend, just assisting Izzy here," He responded. The small spirit-angel was the same that Izzy had found yesterday, but now some color could be faintly seen on him. His wings shown pure white, he had many wings, more than Tai cared to count. His hair was a faded golden blond, and his complexion was slightly pale. "Your friend here wanted to know more about how to solve your predicament. I tried to help him, as he was stubborn and wouldn't do anything else. Well, at least I knew the safe way to listen to the song. It will take a little while, but Izzy will be fine."

While they were talking, Witchmon had walked up. She had been following the scent of blood and had quickly located Izzy herself. She gasped in shock upon seeing the angel, but held her tongue, seeing the glance that the angel gave her. She slowly walked away, muttering to herself.

The others hadn't noticed Witchmon, as they had been so caught up with the small angel. "We need to get Izzy back to the camp," Cody said. With that, the three guys untied Izzy from the tree and started to carry him back to the camp. The angel lead the way. No one seemed to notice the three invisible onlookers who slowly followed the group back.

"Does it get any worse!" Jim exclaimed quietly. The three of them remained invisible, but frustration almost radiated off of him. "Lucemon, a Familiar? What have we ever done to deserve this?"

"I could name a few things..." Spiritmon put in. Jim growled at him.

"I wonder if we can just put a seal on him, and hex him. Could we stop him from making his way out of the spirit form?" Wizardmon asked.

"No, he is like you, I'd bet. He is taking a form to be seen by and communicate through. Izzy didn't look so good. I wonder how much blood Lucemon needed. Now, could we have found the traitor in the prophecy?" Jim asked. Spiritmon sighed.

"I hope not. If Lucemon is the traitor, he will have brought 'The world to it's knees', which suggests that he wins right there. Anyways, traitors have to be trusted to betray. Let's see if we can disrupt the trust." Spiritmon finished.

* * *

><p>"Lopmon, if you could fly, we'd never be in this mess," Patamon said. The three of them had been slowly tracking through the Dark Ocean, and nothing had changed at all.<p>

Lopmon sighed. She had been extremely irritated that she was the reason that Patamon and T.K. were trapped here. Even Patamon's slight humor wasn't helping her mood much.

"Don't worry, guys, we'll find a way out," T.K. said, a little unsure himself. The three of them had not eaten since they arrived in the Dark Ocean, and they were getting hungry.

The group stopped. The beach in front of the ocean never really seemed to change, so it was hard to tell where they were. Suddenly, an idea dawned on T.K., and he turned quickly to Patamon, "Patamon, digivolve. We may be able to break through the barrier that way.

"Okay, T.K., but you better have food if this fails!" Patamon said. He managed to digivolve to Angemon.

"We need to break through the Dark Ocean somehow, but that requires a portal, and you may not have enough power! Try to get to MagnaAngemon!" T.K. said. His crest erupted in a yellow light, and Angemon glowed a bright white, until his form was fully changed to his Ultimate form.

"This should work easily," MagnaAngemon stated calmly. "Gate, Open!" He commanded. A portal opened to the Digital World, showing a calm forest, the forest that Gatomon had lost her tail ring in, and the forest from which Kari paid her second trip to the Dark Ocean.

MagnaAngemon grabbed the other two and hoisted them through the portal. Once this task was complete, he returned to Patamon. "Now, why did it take us so long to figure that out?" He asked. The three all immediately felt better, now away from the Dark Ocean.

"I don't know, Patamon, I guess I assumed you couldn't digivolve in the dark ocean..." T.K. said, "But we should go find the others before Dragomon does."

* * *

><p><em>Veemon stood in front of his master. Daemon smiled at him, a smile that possessed no warmth. "You have done well. Now that Courage will be corrupt, we have multiple opposites. Sincerity is now Brusqueness, Courage is soon to be Arrogance, Friendship shall soon be Betrayal, Reliability is now Incessantness, and Knowledge is now Craftiness. Only Reliability's and Courage's owners are not on our side, and Courage will soon be ours," He said with the slightest hint of delight.<em>

_ "Master," Myotismon began. Daemon gestured for him to continue. "We can begin our assault whenever you wish. Dragomon is ready, as are we. If you wish for some, we can get you those specific people." _

_ Daemon laughed. "Courage's owner should be taken, as should Kindness. Both of those make me sick, but the owners of the crests are powerful and will be useful when Lucemon rules all," He exclaimed. turning to Veemon, he said, "The core you have will easily overpower that of the worm of Kindness. When they send you into the second form of your digital evolution, seize control. I will have one of my servants take care of the two humans, you win your game." Veemon nodded and left. He wasn't too keen on Daemon, but Daemon's master had saved him from the pain, and whatever the master wanted done was good for him. _

_ "Where is that girl?" Daemon asked. MImi appeared next to him, bowing low. Daemon smiled. "Join the others when they attack the remaining Chosen Children. The core that Palmon has will get her to Ultimate without problem, and it will also ive her powers beyond normal Ultimates." With that, Mimi turned and left. Seemingly speaking to himself, Daemon started looking at the remaining digicores he had, "Six to the dark trio, one to that girl's digimon, one to Veemon, one to Dragomon... Nine out of thirteen cores gone, but I still have four, which makes me the second most powerful dark digimon that ever lived. And, when Lucemon reigns, I can have as much power as I need, seeing as no one will ever be as strong as he. Just so long as I can torture __Seraphimon for the rest of eternity." He drifted off into a deep meditation, watching as his forces prepared to kill the rest of the Chosen Children._

* * *

><p>"Ken, ever since we've gotten here, this place has made me think about what a sad life I've lead," Wormmon started as Ken and the others walked back towards the village. They had collected a good bit of supplies and the whole group was heading back to the camp.<p>

"Wormmon, if you continue thinking like that, you'll go into a digi-depression," Hawkmon said. He had finally totally regained his strength and was flying high above the group.

"I'd rather by depressed than dead..." Wormmon trailed off. Ken smiled. His digimon was sometimes slightly cowardly, but was always level-headed and thoughtful.

"Would you two stop talking about depression? It makes me feel like I have wet fur!" Gatomon exclaimed. She had found a stream and had been able to catch multiple fish. It took her and Biyomon to carry back all the fish. Kari wasn't there, she had headed back alone, avoiding contact with the multiple happy couples in the group. Gatomon sighed. It was going to be a long trip if T.K. didn't come back soon.

"Guys, lets not worry about it. Can't we enjoy the peace and quiet here?" Sora asked. She was cuddled close to Matt. He smiled. Once they were done here in the digital world, he had a surprise for her. Gabumon and Biyomon snickered. It was so like Sora to disguise her true intentions by looking for some 'peace'.

The journey was indeed peaceful, until Yolei looked up over the tree line. "What is all the smoke for? It looks like its coming right from camp!" The group immediately took off towards the smoke.

* * *

><p>Jim had stepped up to see the others. Wizardmon flanked him. Tai looked at him in slight confusion, not sure what to make of his arrival. He was pretty sure Jim wasn't involved in killing Joe now, but he wasn't going to apologize until proved wrong. "I need to speak to the little angel you found with Izzy. Also, I'd prepare for an attack. Wizardmon says he senses evil digimon near by," Jim said, gesturing towards the woods. Tai, Davis and Cody nodded, placing Izzy on the ground in the middle of the camp. Tentomon immediately jumped to his partner and tried to start helping, but Wizardmon gestured him aside.<p>

Jim turned, his cloak sweeping behind him. He let his hood fall backwards, and his staff was out, glowing a dangerous red. It was reflective of his mood, his temper seemed foul.

"Someone needs to talk to Sepikmon and see if Joe is available. He'd be a great help." Wizardmon said, kneeling over Izzy. He quickly started working, his hands glowing green, trying to heal some of the open wounds first. Tentomon headed off into the shack. Witchmon had crept up on Wizardmon, but instead of challenging him, turned to him and started to help. Wizardmon nodded his appreciation, and she grinned back.

"Ain't all of us here to fight each other. Don't accomplish much that way anyways. I sniffed you out a while ago, could've gone then. If you'd just come on around earlier, we'd not be in this mess," She said with a half smile. Her small cat purred as she started working, her hands glowing blue, the light moving across Izzy's body like water.

"It is rare for me to find another without having them challenge me. If anything, we can challenge ourselves to see how well we can heal this one. He's gone off and heard the Spirit Song, and that's done him nothing good." Wizardmon said. Witchmon nodded, concentrating. The wounds were gradually going away, but Izzy was still in bad shape.

"Gone off and made a pact with the devil, this one! Angel on the outside, evil to the core. Watch him, I will, but too late it is to change that. Watch so you don't touch that mark. It'd really mess up our day," With that, the two continued on in silence, working fast to try to save Izzy.

* * *

><p>Jim found the little angel without much problem. His frown could've soured milk, and the anger he felt could've boiled water. Staring directly at the angel, he growled. The angel just smiled back. "I wouldn't be in such a sour mood if I were you. I just saved your friend. No doubt you owe me for that," The angel said, his grin mischievous and cunning.<p>

"The day I owe you something is the day I wake up in Hell, Lucemon. No doubt, though, you have already taken your 'payment'," Jim spat. Lucemon's eyes almost glowed in pleasure as he looked back at his angry confronter. "I bet you already place the Devil's Mark already, probably on his left upper-back. I should send you back from where you came from right now! In fact, all it takes is a small spell and you're banned. No more blood feeding off of my ally."

"I may be weak in this spirit form away from my body, but I can still set a nice little trap. You send me away, Izzy dies. You'll be blamed since Tai still thinks you played a role in Joe's death, which you did. If you try to harm me, it looks bad on you. You can't tell the others who I am, they wouldn't understand. Only Izzy knew. And if you try, I will take Kari. Face it, Knowledge is mine. I win." With that, the small angel smiled so innocently, that his wickedness was in plain view. "Not that it matters, but I am not a blood familiar. Feeding off of his blood is below me, I feed off his soul. Now, I have corrupted many crests, and my power is beginning to show through. Hope is too far away to help now, and you know that you can't save the world yourself. You even wear my crest! I must say, its like you paying reverence to me just by having it.

"You won't get me to stop using it that easily. Your crest is indeed powerful, but more than that, it is useful. You can't harm me while I have it, or you'd hurt yourself. I am untouchable to you. Two can play this game, and I am just as adept at it as you are. Your crest has had some interesting powers I never expected. Just because you feed off of souls doesn't mean he is yours. Not yet, at least. Devouring his soul just gives you what he knew, and it is highly unlikely he knew anything that you didn't. The strength you get isn't even near what you get from corrupting the crests. Where is that beautiful crest of yours, anyways? What I wouldn't give to smash it into small pieces." Jim said, still staring at Lucemon. Lucemon had been looking for his old crest as well, but when Jim mentioned the newer one, he laughed and turned away.

"I have the crest working for me. Don't worry, it is very safe. As for Izzy, he is a pawn, just like you. Without my crest or that little digicore of yours, you are useless. Surrounding yourself with the magical objects gifted to you hasn't saved you, and as my prophecy states, won't save you. Speaking of my crest, how does it feel to never age?Having used it for almost 14 years, you should know by now. Of course, I still have many Millennia on you, and you will never get close to my age, but still, how does it feel?" Lucemon smiled evily, looking at Jim, who had clenched his fists at the last comment.

"For all the things I hate about you, that is the one I hate most. **** you for ruining my life. All the years you have spent in darkness are still not worth what you have done. I should have the family I always wanted by now, not only that, I knew who I wanted to be with. Then you ripped that to shreds. I wouldn't have this crest for another minute if I could get rid of it, I hate your stench, I hate your guidance that always comes at the least wanted times, and I really hate..." Jim was interrupted when Lucemon turned around, showing his sly smile, his clean white teeth showing in a full grin.

"And your really hate the fact that you owe me, and when you die, which will be soon, the payback for the protection is an eternity spent with me, right?" Lucemon asked. He laughed. "Yes, I did find it interesting that the crest became apart of you, and I found it all the more interesting and entertaining to watch how it ripped your life apart." He turned and started floating off, leaving one last comment, "Don't worry, I'm good company, for a while."

* * *

><p>As Jim looked around, he realized he was being watched. He sighed, and walked towards the bushes, "Kari, some conversations are meant to not be heard by anyone but the two talking. That was one of them." He waited, looking at where she was hiding, not seeing, but knowing.<p>

Kari realized that she had been found, and decided that there was nothing more to do than reveal herself. She walked into the clearing, but stood a decent distance from where Jim was standing. Jim frowned. He knew this would happen, no doubt Lucemon knew she was there. He even made that threat about her, most likely just to jar up the already messed up plans Jim had.

"Well, I guess at least someone knows what is going on here, other than you..." Kari started. Jim nodded, but he was staring off into the sky.

"We'll solve this later. For now, I think Lucemon just had me good. Looks like we're under attack." The smoke billowed up over the tree lines. Jim had had his back to it the whole time, so he had no idea how long the fight had already gone on for. "Without the staff, no one is going above Champion level... We need to hurry." With that, the two rushed off back towards the camp.

* * *

><p>The camp had been totally smashed. The three dark digimon were rolling attacks at the camp, and the now present chosen children were relying on Paildramon, Spiritmon, Wizardmon and Witchmon to keep the camp safe. Sepikmon had walked out, boomerang in hand, sighed, and had walked back inside.<p>

"Come on! How are we going to win like this? We need to digivolve, guys!" Tai shouted. But the others knew it was fruitless. The strongest they had was the equivalent to an Ultimate, and the other three were really strong Champions.

"Tai! Try to now," He heard. He turned around to see Kari and Jim running into the clearing, his staff in hand.

Immediately, the digivolving began. Guardromon appeared, along with Imperialdramon, Omnimon and Angewomon. Looking up and the huge Digimon, Jim nodded as the others cheered. He turned to Cody and Yolei.

"Your digimon never reached Ultimate. We are going to have to make do without you two as fighters. Take Gomamon and Tentamon, and the supplies and try to get out of here. I know it may seem like a menial task, but without that, we starve." The two nodded and quickly started grabbing what wasn't burning.

The entrance of new digimon had made the battle spread out. Piedmon was facing off against Imerialdramon alone, Myotismon facing off against Omnimon and the rest faced off against Devimon. The three dark digimon smiled and began their attacks.

* * *

><p>Piedmon laughed deviously. Imperialdramon stood in front of him, still in his dragon form. Ken and Davis stood behind their huge partner. The area was a small clearing at the edge of the town. There were trees blocking the view of the other fights.<p>

"You oversized clown! The circus must've given you a life long supply of cheap makeup. Your face alone can kill," Davis taunted. Ken sighed. There was no way Davis wasn't going to try to insult his opponents, but he could at least wait until they won. The fight was too fair for his liking.

But neither were attacking. In fact, a black fog was appearing around Imperialdramon, unexplainable to the two. Inside, a battle ensued between Wormmon and Veemon for control, Veemon's darkness just starting to take control. Piedmon laughed and slowly advanced on the two teens, who were just realizing how vulnerable they were. They turned to run, but Piedmon had other plans.

"Mystery Box!" He yelled, and the two boys were enveloped in the boxes. "You're mine now! I guess I can give a grand opening speech now, you already lost! Hello, and welcome to the Show! You are now my two newest acts, and I your ring leader! For tonight's main event, betrayal: the World turns on the small children, infected by darkness."

* * *

><p>"Crimson Lightning!" Myotismon growled. The two whips came crashing towards Omnimon with speed that seemed impossible. Only Omnimon's extreme battle prowless saved him from getting destroyed by the whips. A loud crack boomed out as the whips passed through the air.<p>

The two were squaring off in the sky, high above the town. They were near the Spirit Song's area, out of reach of Sepikmon's shack. The sky had darkened, and it looked like a storm would show up soon.

"Supreme Cannon!" Omnimon said. His cannon boomed out devastating shots, each one hurting Matt's and Tai's ears. Myotismon acrobatically dodged each shot, waiting for Omnimon to stop firing. The ease of his motions stunned Tai and Matt. Myotismon had never had such power before.

"You may be powerful, but I have a new attack for all of you!" Myotismon shouted as the cannon fire stopped. He dodged a sword swipe from Omnimon, and opened his cape up, his hands extended forward. "Blood Boil!"

Matt, Tai and Omnimon recoiled as their blood felt like it was on fire. The pain was unimaginable, and it seemed that their strength was flowing away from them. Omnimon knelt down, trying hard to stay on his feet. Tai and Matt were already on the verge of unconsciousness because of the pain. Myotismon glided towards the group.

* * *

><p>Devimon looked around. He was towering above the others, but he was fighting multiple digimon and he was very wary of how crafty, if not powerful, they were. Wizardmon floated off to his right, Witchmon off to his left, floating on her broomstick, and Angewomon high above. Spiritmon and Jim had left a few moments back, giving Devimon a fairer fight.<p>

Witchmon was the first to do anything. The spirit cat on her hat immediately grew to be as large as her. It looked like a huge black panther. The panther floated along her side, growling menacingly. Witchmon smiled and started chanting. Her eyes closed, it seemed to be up to the panther to protect her.

"You can't beat me with a stupid chant!" Devimon yelled, and he flew at her. The panther grew in size and roared, a roar that froze Devimon, not out of fear, but sheer power.

Wizardmon chuckled, looking at the 'panther' that he now knew was in fact a bogart. A bogart was a spirit that could be bonded to someone as a familiar. It was often invisible, but took the form of a small pet when it wanted to be seen. This one was extremely powerful. Turning to where Devimon was, he shouted "Thunder shock!" A ball of electricity hit Devimon square in the head. He screamed in pain, but floated backwards and started a new attack.

"Celestial Arrow," Angewomon shouted. The shot was true and hit Devimon, but he had folded his wings and the arrow bounce harmlessly off. Devimon opened his wings explosively and fire shot out. At the same moment, Witchmon completed her chanting. Water formed up and shielded her and the others. The fire steamed off, causing a lot of water to evaporate, but the shields remained up.

Devimon looked around. He knew they thought they were making progress. He smiled. He had enough firepower to destroy all of them, he just needed to get past that bogart. Fire slowly started to radiate off of him in waves. With every wave, the fire went farther and got stronger. Wizardmon was the closest and immediately was getting buffeted by it. He floated back, and the other two joined him.

"We need to get back. That fire won't be stopped by your shield for long. Let's get Kari and retreat," Wizardmon said. Witchmon nodded, and Angewomon swept down to grab Kari. The flames were advancing a a devastating rate and they were almost on Witchmon and Wizardmon. The plains and forest below had caught fire, as had the village. Sepikmon was nowhere to be seen, but the three flying digimon continued on.

* * *

><p>"Spiritmon, Myotismon used some strange attack on Omnimon. It sounds like the attack will be ineffective against you, and I can always just stay out of range from this attack. I think we need to digivolve," Jim said. Spiritmon nodded. The two rounded a tree to continue down a well forested path, trying to hide from Myotismon for as long as they could. They had even ran around the town to come in behind Myotsimon, and thus had to go back through a forest. Screams of agony from Omnimon could be heard, and Myotismon could be heard laughing.<p>

Spiritmon started to glow, as did Jim's crest, which appeared to be hidden under his robe. The green light shown through the fabric, and the emblem of a shield and question mark could be seen.

"Spiritmon digivolve to... Basiliskmon " Spiritmon grew much bigger, both bulkier and longer. His arms muscled up, looking extremely powerful. They acted almost like legs as he bounded across the forest ground. But the most noticeable change was the two huge wings on his back. Leaping into the sky, he spread his wings to be seen in his full glory. With his two hands drifting lazily below him, his tail guided his path through the sky and the powerful wings made the trees below bend. Indeed, he was like a Basilisk.

Jim smiled. His partner, at the Ultimate level, was extremely powerful in defense. He didn't need to use his wings to fly, he was still a spirit, but they helped boost him along. He came to the clearing where the battle was taking place. Omnimon was still there, but that was because Myotismon wouldn't let the powerful digimon downgrade without stealing all the remaining energy. He was trying to kill them.

"Ice Storm!" Basiliskmon yelled out. Immediately, a strong wind started blowing ice through the air. The ice was extremely sharp and was cutting at Myotismon. Myotismon was bloated on the blood and energy he had been extracting from Omnimon. This slowed Myotismon down, but also gave him even more power.

"Crimson Lightning!" Myotismon said. Instead of just two, multiple whips came out. Myotismon directed them all at Basiliskmon, The whips homed in, but Basiliskmon deflected them all. They bounced off of his closed wings, which had formed a massive dome around him. The ice was still battering Myotismon, and he was now getting blisters from the freezing pellets. He had cuts across his body, and blood was seeping out of the wounds.

"I grow tired of this fight! You cannot win! And now those two below me shall die when I finish with you!" Myotismon snarled, trying to hit Basiliskmon, unsuccessfully.

Basiliskmon had now flown up higher than before, and came flying straight at Myoismon, gaining speed as he sped downward. He grabbed Myotismon and slammed him straight into the ground. Bouncing off lightly, Basiliskmon continued to hover high above the crater that was just formed.

But Myotismon had other ideas. When he got up, he walked straight at Jim, multiple whips snapping angrily. Jim drew out his staff, and Basiliskmon tried to get there to help Jim, but he wasn't fast enough. Myotismon cast up his arms, and sent out a great many bats to stop Basiliskmon. "Blood Boil!" He whispered, looking straight at Jim. He felt the pain start growing, the burning catching, from his heart to his head, hands to legs. But he stayed standing, relying heavily on his staff. Jim staggered forward as Myotismon started attacking him with the whips. While many hit, Jim was still trying to move closer, a look of rage in his eyes. "Your end is near, kid. I have so much energy, and you have barely any. I can see the pain in your eyes, you think that by reaching me you can hurt me. Well, you are very wrong." With that, Myotismon whipped him across the face and Jim blanked out.

* * *

><p>T.K., Patamon, and Lopmon were tracking through the forest as fast as they could. The D3 in T.K.'s hand had spotted a signal an hour ago, but it was far away. The three had taken off, expecting to find someone with in the next hour, but they had barely gotten any closer to the dot.<p>

"You know, I wish we could just get them to come to us. I'm feeling lazy right now anyways," Patamon said. He was flying above the other two, trying to see above the tree line.

"Can we stop for lunch soon? I am kinda hungry," Lopmon said. T.K. nodded. Although he didn't want to stop until he saw Kari and the others, it was best that he didn't take his frustrations out on his partners.

Lopmon smiled and bounded into the forest, trying to find something to eat. Patamon followed her, and T.K. decided that he would just try to find a flat area to eat. There wasn't too many places around him like that, but he had a little while.

_He, whose soul has died for his fault and who has lead to the fall of the Chosen Children. The fate of the world crushed his soul forever. _T.K had had a lot of time to think on what this meant. He already felt dead, from not seeing Kari, from leaving her like that, from not knowing what to do. But he wasn't sure that his soul had been crushed. What the fate of the world was would crush his soul, or because of everyone relying on him?

Eventually, Lopmon came back with an assortment of berries, fruits and a few vegetables. She hadn't even thought of fish, which was fine with the other two, they were just hungry. She put out all the fruit, took a large bowl of water, and started heating it over a small fire. She started working to chop up the vegetables, and T.K. helped her. Patamon, lacking opposable thumbs, could only watch.

The vegetable stew was nice and soft. T.K. had taken some of the peas and ground them up to make the broth thicker. Patamon had devoured quite a bit of food, and was still munching on berries as the others got ready to continue. Between the three of them, they had extra food for another meal, so they took what they could and continued on.

"Hey, T.K., the dot has gotten closer to us! Maybe they saw us on the D3, too!" Patamon said hopefully. They were walking up a small slope, and it looked like whoever they were looking for was on the other. Lopmon and Patamon ran/flew up ahead to see who it was, but got an awful surprise.

* * *

><p>So, end of chapter, this was getting a little on the long side for chapters, so I left it like this. Also, it seemed like a nice place to stop, everyone snacking on a hill, calmly going to watch the sunset.<p>

So, anyways, always nice of you to drop a review. I'll be uploading some time soon, but I just realized something: Come August, college starts. I'll still be working on this, but 5 days might go to a week, or longer. Sorry, I'll try to get ahead in my work.


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry for the wait. Got this up finally, so, read on.

* * *

><p>"The show must go on!" Piedmon shrieked in joy as he approached the two boxes in front of him. The colorful boxes slowly started rotating in the three segmented parts again, flashing multiple colors. Behind him, Imperialdramon stood, a fight still ensuing between Veemon's and Wormmon's souls.<p>

The boxes slowed to a stop, representing blue and grey colors. "Just what I wanted! Circus clowns! Time to face the Black Shadow and join up! I have the perfect outfit for you as well!" The boxes were enveloped in a shadow, and coughing could be heard from inside. The ground beneath the boxes opened up, and shape changed to look more like a coffin. They disappeared into the blackness beneath them.

Imperialdramon had started moving, it's eyes black pits .The shining blue was now dull, and the dragon-like creature bent low, almost bowing, to Piedmon. The clown laughed and gestured off towards the distance. "Your work is done, we don't want them to realize anything too quickly. Let that big ugly oaf Dragomon take care of the smaller two, once those two are gone, he will not be known either!"

* * *

><p>Further down, Devimon had almost caught up to his three opponents. The three hovering digimon were now full out flying away, trying to draw Devimon away from the village. The village was going up in flames, or parts were. Screaming and shrieking spirits could be heard, some even visible in the smokey daylight. Wizardmon flew slightly behind the other two, making sure Angewomon didn't fall behind carrying Kari. Devimon had other ideas than letting the three escape.<p>

Devimon poured all strength into his speed. Wizardmon was forced to turn and engage Devimon before he caught him from behind. The two stared into the other's eyes, their eyes measuring the other's strength, tearing the other's soul apart. Both tried to make the other flinch. To the bystander, it appeared that it was just for morale, but in fact, both were shooting off spells, faster than one could speak, both risking the dangerous spells in their arsenal, neither making mistakes.

Witchmon couldn't let Wizardmon have all the glory, turning, she started chanting. Her panther-like bogart charged Devimon, still deep in concentration with Wizardmon, the air now visibly cracking in energy.

Suddenly, the area around them exploded with fire. Both digimon quickly shook the explosion off, looking wary. The bogart had been blown back in the explosion. Both digimon sent attacks immediately after each other, causing more explosions over the outskirts of the village.

"You can't win! Even with that witch and small angel, I shall prevail!" Devimon shouted.

Witchmon's chant had now become louder, and it seemed as if the spirits had joined her in chanting. When Devimon stepped forward to go after Wizardmon, the step was in beat with the chant, as was Wizardmon's dodge. The attacks being sent out were also on beat with the heavy bass chant, provided by the spirits.

"It's a battle chant, if you're wondering," Angewomon explained to Kari. Kari looked at Angewomon, waiting for her to explain, "A witch or wizard can lock a battle into a song, attacks made based on the chant's beat. Wizardmon knows that there is no way out other than to corrupt the beat, so he isn't struggling, just using more powerful magic. The more powerful magic works better because of the slower, deeper beat. Devimon is confused by what is going on, so he is struggling and missing a lot of opportunities to attack." Angewomon smiled as the spirits and Witchmon continued the chant. "She is full of surprises. Living here probably got boring, so she just looked for things in the outside world. This was probably one of those rare abilities she decided might some day be useful."

"Whatever this magic is, it won't help you for long! I have grown well stronger than any of you! So strong, that no amount power can stop me! Face my wraith, Wizard scum!" Devimon shouted, blasting the flames out everywhere across the field. This distracted Wizardmon as he had to work hard to avoid all the flames. His palms sweaty, he tried to summon water, but all he could summon was steam in the intense heat.

Suddenly, Devimon scored a direct hit on Wizardmon and he sputtered backwards. Witchmon's eyes widened in shock, seeing Wizardmon clutching his side, blood flowing freely from his side. Witchmon lost the chant and Devimon was free. Looking at her, he smiled evilly, "Couldn't hold me spellbound forever. Now, it's your turn. Inferno Hell!" Fire ripped out from the ground, consuming the area around Witchmon. The flames shot several stories high, and trapped her in a small cell of fire. Laughing, Devimon approached through the flames, ready to finish her off. Angewomon and Kari stood helpless, Wizardmon laid on the ground. Even the bogart couldn't help, trapped outside the flame wall.

"You know, I heard there are two ways to kill a witch... one is to burn them to death, the other is to eat their still-beating heart. I wonder which I will choose," He laughed, taking his time approaching Witchmon.

It looked to be over for Witchmon.

* * *

><p>"Yolei, wait up! I can't fly that fast yet!" Hawkmon complained. The group had approached the edge of the town, and were nearing a cliff. The group had not looked back, and now were looking for a good place to wait for the others. Surprisingly, the mood was light, although this could be attributed that they didn't know of the destruction going on.<p>

"Hawkmon, you have wings and I'm doing better than you," Armadillomon said to his friend. Hawkmon responded by landing on his back and taking the easy way out from walking. Armadillomon shrugged and Cody shook his head with a slight grin on his face. You couldn't beat Hawkmon's simple logic.

"Let's climb this cliff and wait for the others there. It will be good enough." Cody stated. He looked up at the giant rock wall in front of them. It seemed unsurpassable, but for a small trail up the left side, crisscrossing the cliff face.

The group climeb quickly, or as quickly goes on a narrow rock cliff, Hawkmon safely flying above. The path was hard for Armadillomon, impossible, so he had to go into his in-training form to be carried. Cody gave Upamon to Yolei and picked up Gomamon, carefully avoiding his claws.

About halfway up, they heard voices, shouts of joy, obviously Patamon's little shrill voice accompanied by Lopmon's giggles.

"T.K., is that you?" Cody shouted upward. He waited for a response, but was surprised by the answer.

* * *

><p>"T.K., is that you?" T.K. heard. He was about to respond when another voice yelled out.<p>

"T.K.! Help! Lillymon can't fight much longer! It's Dragomon!" It was unmistakably Mimi. She was in trouble, and so T.K. immediately decided to go off and help her.

"Cody! I have to go help Mimi! Hold on!" T.K. shouted back. He ran off towards the voice, Patamon and Lopmon following closely behind.

"That's all right T.K.! Not like we're in danger here!" Yolei shouted. The group started to steadily head towards the top again as T.K. sprinted off to find Mimi.

When T.K. got to where Mimi was, he immediately noticed the differences in her outfit. The red and black replaced her old favorite white and pink colors. Her hair was long and straight, and for once, not pink. In fact, T.K. hadn't seen her brown hair in almost 10 years. Lillymon floated next to her, hovering slightly, a smirk on her face. Mimi looked at T.K. and laughed, "Lillymon, let's not even bother with the introductions. We have a job to do."

* * *

><p>Cody and Yolei had run into multiple bad stop areas, and were ten feet from the top. Looking down, the fall was probably a good 60 feet.<p>

"Good thing we all don't mind heights," Yolei muttered. Hawkmon laughed, and then proceeded to look for another path on the way up.

"Speak for yourself," Gomamon muttered. He was a little more pale than usual, if that was possible.

Suddenly, Hawkmon fell out of the sky. Yolei looked around to see a giant digimon standing below them. It was an ugly, wrinkly creature, grey skinned and possessing multiple tentacles.

"Ahh, Dragomon! Lovely shot! Now, we could use the girl, do what you want with her, the crest of love is yet to be corrupted. I, myself, will deal with that troublesome ninja-wannabe," Piedmon laughed. He appeared behind Dragomon, laughing. Cody knew they were trapped, but Yolei had an idea left.

"Digi Armor Energize," She almost whispered. Hawkmon, who was now on the ground, began to quietly shift into Halsemon. Re-energized, Halsemon slowly crept along the bottom of the cliff, waiting for his chance.

"I've been waiting for this, Cody! Let's see how good you are at dodging!" Piedmon shouted. Multiple swords shot up at the cliff, all aimed at Cody. He jumped quickly to the side, almost losing his step on the narrow cliff face.

Yolei shrieked as Dragomon reached for her. He was huge, and had only to reach a little up to get his tentacles almost wrapping around her. Luckily, Haslemon would have none of that, and so he flew up, using the blades on his helmet/visor to cut through the reaching tentacles. Shrieking in pain, Dragomon slapped Halesmon to the ground, and shook his fists, bashing the cliff face, and sending the trapped group tumbling.

* * *

><p><em>This isn't how I will leave this world, I never planned to die failing. I have more to do yet, and no way am I going to that Hell Lucifer has waiting for me, <em>Jim thought, almost nervously. It was like watching a nightmare unfold in terrible slow motion, the agony of his blood literally on fire inside his body, Myotismon taking his time to arrive, Basiliskmon fighting off the multitude of bats. But that wasn't the worst of it. Lucemon stood over him in his spirit form, smiling. He knew this was his victory. Tai, Matt and their two fresh digimon were unconscious and bruised in the corner of the clearing, but Lucemon wasn't going to let Jim not be awake to witness his own death. _Where is Wizardmon? For all the times I could use help... For all the times anyone could!_

His staff sat just a few feet away, but that could've been miles, as he couldn't move. Without it, Lucemon was right, he was powerless. Nothing could help him now, unless... _Unless I do exactly what I never thought I'd have to do... Use the Familiar's bond. _

His body almost physically shuddered as he thought of re-opening the connection with the Familiar... The bond took years to close, or get close to closing. The bond wouldn't permanently close until one had dies, and his familiar wasn't going anywhere. Out of options, out of hope, with Myotismon almost on top of him, he slowly moved his arm to his mouth, and bit down hard. The pain wasn't even noticed, but the blood did the job.

"I summon my Familiar! Protect me!" He shouted. An angry look came from Lucemon, who moved in front of Myotismon almost immediately. Lucemon's eyes glowed with a black light, deadly and deep, his hands projecting a sword of sorts, the hilt binding to his hand. Myotismon's eyes widened in shock, and backed off slowly, before finally disappearing. The pain in Jim's body steadily decreased, and the bats fighting Basiliskmon left.

"I'll take my payment now," Lucemon said, his eyes murderous, "And this time, blood won't be enough." His sword blackened and shortened to a dagger, and he swept towards Jim. _So close! And then, he uses my trick against me! It saves him, but does not help him... soon, he shall be mine._ He slowly drew out blood from Jim, feeding himself and becoming stronger. Basiliskmon stood close, making sure Lucemon did not overstep himself. "You have delayed the inevitable, and you shall pay for this delaying... When you enter Hell, expect no mercy to be taken on your soul, or what is left of it. Now, when I said blood won't be enough, I wasn't lying. Let me show you what Hell stores for you!" He blasted Basiliskmon back with his new energy, causing him to go back to Spiritmon. Spiritmon stood helpless watching Lucemon, who slowly drew his dagger across Jim's arm, drawing it deeper and deeper, laughing at Jim's shrieks of pain, until he hit bone. He sliced around it, then, with a final stab, sliced straight through Jim's arm. Not a drop of blood was spilled, but a lot was lost, as was Jim's right hand. "They used to say that those who were dominant in their left hand had pacts with the Devil. Well, this just goes to show they were quite right!"

All Jim could do was faint, but his torture didn't end there.

* * *

><p>Sora was with Sepikmon, taking care of Izzy. Sepikmon had given Izzy a bitter green drink, which Sora had helped Izzy drink, even though Izzy remained unconscious.<p>

"Do you speak english?" Sora asked Sepikmon. Sepikmon nodded. He turned back to the small fire in his shack. He had summoned spirits into the shack, seeing if any possessed the power to lift objects, thus helping to put out the fire. Right now, only a few were helping. "Then why do you never speak to us?"

Sepikmon grunted, then in a harsh, old sounding voice, "Me English... is not good. Me speak to Spirits in native tongue, they... comprehend. No need to speak, listen. One of friends dead, went to help... friends of you. Many under... hurt. You needed out... young girl and... flying person need help. Me take... child, care for him... go must you... help flying person."

Sora sighed. Understanding Sepikmon's slow english was challenging, to say the least, but she left understanding that Kari needed her help.

Before she could exit, Izzy stirred. He turned slowly and looked at Sora and smiled. He nodded, but gestured for her to come back, "I know... *cough*... a way to win. It... *cough*.. ugh, what is this? *Cough* It may be the only way to win." Sora giggled at his struggling for words. He was on par with Sepikmon with English for the moment. but she helped him up and left.

Sepikmon had his back turned when they left, but quickly noticed them gone. He hopped/ran to the outside of his shack trying to find the two. Failing, he screeched, "Back with you! Mark of Angel... Dark... he carry. BAD! BAD!" He headed out to find the two, heading towards the fight, but unfortunately in the wrong direction.

* * *

><p>"Witchmon, watch out!" Kari screamed. Angewomon shot up, trying to burst through the flames, but they singed her and repelled her. Witchmon's face was blurred by the flames, but suddenly, she laughed as Devimon was about to grab her.<p>

"Son of a Demon! You have fought well to corner me, but take my soul you will now you will not! Ye be too late!" She shouted wickedly, and suddenly glowed in a white light and disappeared. Devimon screamed in rage, and uttered out a curse at Witchmon.

"YOU ALL WILL PAY!" His booming voice shouted. He turn and shot a massive fireball at Wizardmon, destroying what was left of the poor digimon. The data went straight into the air. The bogart charged Devimon, but he grabbed the panther, and squeezed the life right out of it. The bogart screeched in agony, clawing at Devimon's hands, but he turned to Kari and Angewomon, the once lively spirit slowly withering away on the ground, no longer in physical form, too weak to move.

_"Kari!" _A familiar voice shouted. She looked around, but couldn't see anyone. Devimon was slowly advancing, building power in fire with each step. _"Kari, take our last strength! Use it to get Angewomon to digivolve! Witchmon says she can guide her!" _Kari recognized the voice as Wizardmon's, and she saw a great white light beam on to Angewomon, who smiled, looking totally refreshed.

"It is time," Angewomon simply stated. She started to glow, her clothes transforming to shining green armor, extra wings formed with a golden metal outline, 10 wings in total, one pair that was still feathered. A spear formed in one hand, and a shield in her left. "Now, Devimon, you can fight me." Ophanimon said quietly, before quickly erupting forward towards the demon. "Eden's Javelin!" She shouted, and the spear/javelin glowed in a green light, firing a powerful beam at Devimon. The attack simply blew a hole in his torso, cutting off the fire, and causing him to cringe. His data started to bleed out, flames burst everywhere, but Ophanimon moved in for the kill. "Sefirot Crystal!"

The attack struck Devimon head on, causing multiple explosions, before he was totally vaporized and downed.

"Wow! You did it! Kari shouted as Ophanimon de-digivolved to Salamon. Salamon laughed playfully and bounced over to Kari,

"Yeah, now if Patamon would just hurry up and return, we could go kick some butt!" Salamon exclaimed happily.

"Oh, I see the double motive there, you just wanna see Patamon..." Kari trailed off, and Salamon blushed.

* * *

><p><em>"How could you? For all the world! To give power back to Lucemon, now he almost doesn't even need the crests to be powerful enough to destroy us! Fresh blood will draw him to strength beyond measure!" Wizardmon said, appearing in front of Jim, surrounded by all white. He glared in distaste at the fallen man.<em>

_ "And lest you forget now you can do it yourself. Neither I nor he can assist you anymore." Witchmon said, appearing next to Wizardmon. They held hands, quietly staring at the other man._

_ "You two don't understand what awaits me! You die and now go to a good place, a peaceful end, I die, and Hell awaits! What sane man can live knowing he has no future and not want to live at all costs?" Jim argued, looking frightened, not knowing if he was dead himself._

_ "Ye trade an extra day for Hell for all?" Witchmon asked. She turned. "Ye plan better work, I want to live my life in peace." She left, leaving just Wizardmon and Jim._

_ "I know you have a good idea on how this will play out, better than I had. But look, the kids could've done this on their own, and he can't drag you to Hell yet. Try to live right, for once, maybe it will change." He was about to leave as well, but stopped, thinking hard. "I was once like you, quiet and removed from everyone, seeing nothing past my own life. It took me almost to die to change, and finally help someone. Compassion was shown to me before I could show compassion, and if not for Gatomon, I'd never be the person I am, or was. Therefore, I leave you with this gift," He said. He reached into one of his robe's pockets and pulled out a small potion. "This is a rare potion, one I have been tempted to use many times. You can have any wish, but with that wish comes an equal and opposite sacrifice. You can control it, if the sacrifice you choose is enough. Do not take this lightly, if you don't sacrifice enough, you will die and nothing will come of it." With that, he turned and left for good, leaving nothing but a tiny vial of liquid. _

* * *

><p>T.K. looked at Mimi, seeing now the obvious changes she had undergone. She simply looked evil, not ugly, but cruel. She could've past for normal, but to the Bearer of Hope, the evil was broadcast so easily, she could've shouted it. Well, Lillymon basically did. "Flower Cannon!" The small digimon shouted, blasting a powerful beam of energy at T.K., who barely ducked aside.<p>

"T.K., let's do this!" Patamon shouted. He started to glow, going past Angemon, to his Ultimate stage, MagnaAngemon. The blade in his arm came out, the purple energy glowing forth. He jumped at Lillymon immediately, and took a great swipe, barely missing. The two took to the air, but Mimi wasn't going to mess around.

"Scubamon! Take him!" She shouted, and many of the shadowy forms of Scubamon jumped out and headed towards T.K. and Lopmon.

Out of options, T.K. and Lopmon retreated, leaving MangaAngemon to battle Lillymon.

* * *

><p>"Haslemon, HELP!" Yolei shouted. The armored bird immediately snapped up and flew to catch her. Cody wasn't so lucky, he was caught by Dragomon.<p>

"Toss me down! I can help him!" Upamon said. Yolei gestured for Haslemon to bring them lower, before dumping Upamon down. He digivolved into Armadillomon, but that didn't help the proceeding events.

"Leave that twerp to me, Dragomon, and don't worry about that runt training digimon, you can destroy him." Piedmon laughed. Dragomon was about to crush Gomamon when a light shot off from the forest, striking Gomamon.

"Leave him alone, or else you will deal with me first!" Cody looked to see Joe, shimmering in white, hovering on the edge of the clearing. "Now, Gomamon, spirit-warp digivolve!"

Gomamon digivolved into what looked like Plesiomon, with one difference: He was shimmering white, and hovered in front of Dragomon. A massive wave formed out of nowhere and bashed all those on the ground. Joe moved and picked up Cody and Armadillomon before they could be crushed. Nodding his appreciation, Cody turned his attention to Piedmon, who had jumped the wave rather well and hadn't been seriously effected. Dragomon, on the other hand, was on his back from the power of the wave, and his large mass had taken a lot of the wave.

Cody pulled out his kendo sword, and charged Piedmon. Plesiomonwas attacking Dragomon, but after the initial burst of power, he was struggling to hold Dragomon away from Haslemon, who had set Yolei back down on the cliff and was circling above, waiting for a chance to strike. "Tempest Wing!" He shouted, blasting Dragomon in the back, but the attack didn't do much.

"So, a rematch is what you want?" Cody asked when Piedmon pulled out two of his swords. He took a third, and offered it to Cody, but Cody shook his head, bowed and waited.

"I will not be bested so easily this time, nor will I look like a fool again! You made a clown out of me with that act of yours, but now the joke's on you!" Piedmon snarled, and began the attack with both swords. Cody started to counter, keeping pace to put blocks on both swords. His own sword was cut a little, but since the last fight, Cody had added an edge to his sword. Now, it was reinforced with iron wood, and the steel core came out at one point to a sharp tip. He had gone so far as to curve the blade like a Katana, making the blade's form no longer like the cylinder it had been, but looking almost like the katana he would one day inherit from his Grandpa.

"I'm not going to let you win this, for my friends, for my family, and for the world. I cannot let you go on and destroy all that has been built," Cody stated calmly, switching to the offensive. He made a powerful downward slice, which Piedmon blocked by X-ing his swords. The two were locked, faces inches apart, glaring at each other.

"You can take center stage with all this saving-the-world nonsense, but I won't have it! You charged me not because you wanted to save the world, no, if that was true, you would have your rodent digimon fight me. You wanted this clash of metal and wit, you WANTED a rematch, to prove that you won the last time, to show your strength. You carry your head high, but I will not be clowned with. You're just as low as me. Lower even, since you can't accept the truth! I don't hide behind my makeup!" Piedmon sneered. Cody snarled back, and the two jumped away from each other before charging to attack again.

* * *

><p>"Sora, it should be right over here," Izzy said, gesturing towards the far side of the hill they were climbing. The hill was barren, without any sort of life, but quiet and peaceful, compared to all the screams of the spirits back in the small village.<p>

"Izzy, what are we looking for anyways?" Sora asked. She was slightly nervous about being so far away from the village, and wasn't happy about leaving Kari when Sepikmon said Sora was needed.

But Izzy didn't answer. Instead, he stood at the top of the tall hill, and looked on towards the other side. Sora joined him, but was shocked by what she saw. There, standing on the far side, was a small shadowed figure, standing in a long red robe, unmistakably Daemon. Before she could do anything but gasp, Izzy shoved her to the ground and put a knee on her back, preventing her from moving.

"And so Love falls. So they say, 'All's fair in Love and War', and now I have both. Welcome, my child."

* * *

><p>The battle still raged between Dragomon and Plesiomon, as with Piedmon and Cody. Unfortunately, Cody was tiring. Piedmon's three extra digicores were helping him greatly, and even Cody, for all his training, was running low on endurance. "Well, you're final act has been a great finale, but its time for you to exit stage right!" Piedmon shouted, a grin on his face. With three quick cuts, he disarmed Cody. Cody stood sword-less in front of Piedmon, his head bowed.<p>

"I cannot let you escape me again, but I will not push you out and turn you against your morals. You have fought, and fought well, but your act is done. The best I can do is give you a quick, warrior's death."

At the same moment, Plesiomon was defeated, and disappeared, along with Joe. Armadillomon tried to attack Piedmon, but was knocked easily backwards, unconscious.

"CODY! RUN!" Yolei shouted, but Cody didn't move. She couldn't understand why, but then realized he didn't have the energy. She cried as Piedmon's two sweeping blades came up and took a quick slice, decapitating Cody. For once, not even he was smiling.

"NO!" A different voice shouted. T.K. was standing at the top of the cliff, shocked. MangaAngemon behind him, Mimi and the others nowhere to be seen. He was quivering in anger, his whole body shaking. "No..." he whispered weakly. His crest started to glow a brilliant yellow, which quickly engulfed MangaAngemon. Seraphimon appeared in his place, his shining armor glowing, seeming to radiate light itself.

T.K., let me handle this," Seraphimon said quietly. Looking up at the two evil digimon, he said, "You two are looking at Seraphimon, leader of the Ten Angels. You have helped to disrupt our rule, and therefore, I bring upon you Judgement, unavoidable and swift. For your actions, you will have Death long and past the present life you live." He jumped into the air and sailed slowly down towards the others. Nothing could be done to stop him, this could be seen. He seemed to be the very definition of power. Walking to Dragomon, who was frozen in fear, he shouted, "Hallowed Knuckle!" He slammed into Dragomon with a Heavenly force, unearthly in power. Dragomon immediately started to dissolve from the ground up, but he made one more desperate move.

Yolei was so shocked from Cody's death that she didn't see Dragomon reach up and knock her from the cliff. T.K. immediately saw what was happening and reached to grab her. Their arms locked, but T.K. couldn't hold on. Haslemon swooped down to go catch her, but was knocked clean away by Dragomon, unconscious. The tremendous crash that ensued instantly killed Yolei.

"We must go, T.K., I don't have much energy left," Seraphimon stated. When T.K. didn't respond, he flew up and grabbed T.K., then Lopmon, and left.

"Let's finish this quickly," Piedmon said, for once not even a half-smile touched his set a funeral pyre and placed the remnants of the bodies on top. He then quickly destroyed the remaining power of Hawkmon and Armadillomon, both who were blessed to remain unconscious. Cody's body was prepared so he didn't appear decapitated, and he was burned alongside Yolei's body. "So much death. It doesn't make for a happy show," Piedmon moped. He stood silently watching the flames, contemplating the two who had just died. "When we complete this empire, then it shall be how I like it, fun and games, maybe some blood, but none of this. This... This is wrong, but I believe the ends justify the means. Now I must work my hardest to acheive the means so I do not kill in vain."

* * *

><p>Piedmon wasn't the only one with a fire burning. The remaining group stood in front of a huge honorary pyre, Sora and Izzy had never returned, nor had Ken and Davis, so they were assumed dead. Ten names were inscribed on small pieces of paper, Sora, Izzy, Ken, Yolei, Cody, Davis, Witchmon, Wizardmon, Mimi, and Joe were all recognized, even though they realized Mimi was alive. The four original Chosen Children stood in silence, T.K. and Kari cuddled close, T.K. acting as a shoulder to cry on. Matt though, was by far the most distraught by the events.<p>

Matt was hunched over crying, holding a small box in his hand. Inside was a small ring that he had planned to give Sora when they finished the mission, but now the chance would never come again. Sepikmon had tried to find any of the spirits, but failed to find even Joe. He was standing in the doorway of his shack, silently staring into the flames. He walked up to the flames and tossed incense in, making the smoke smell like a burning flower.

Gatomon sat staring at the stars, thinking back to only a few nights ago when she and Wizardmon had sat peacefully under the stars before. She couldn't help thinking of the memory of Kari laying in a pool of blood. Was she next?

Jim and Spiritmon stood far outside the group, letting them mope. Jim let his right arm hang limp, supporting himself with his staff in the other hand. He shook his head quietly, then whispered to Spiritmon. He nodded, the floated over to Gatomon.

"What do you want right now?" Gatomon asked, trying to keep back hints of sadness in her voice, and almost covering it up with anger. Spiritmon shrugged, and gestured for Lopmon and Patamon to join him. The two did, so he started talking quietly to them.

"Remember when you had the dream link to Wizardmon, the first time you knew he was alive again?" Lopmon and Gatomon nodded. Patamon was slightly confused, but didn't speak up. "They were trying to get something from Piedmon, something important. So important, they were willing to pull a hoax trade for it, directly risking themselves. What they wanted was... is, actually, it is still around somewhere... known as the energy crystal. The reason it is so important is because it grants power to the holder of it, random almost, but always powerful. Piedmon had it, and it granted him the new attack he uses, Mystery Box he calls it. He let the others have a small dose of it, and Devimon somehow got a hold of it, thus all the fire energy he had. Blood Boil was what Myotismon received, but the true genius of the Crystal is seen in the Mystery box attack. It randomly gives a powerful boost to Piedmon that he can control, it is the Crystal incarnated almost. Well, Joe stole it. Before he went to go help Yolei, Jim asked if Joe could get the crystal, and he got it. Piedmon has used it enough so where the effects are permanent for him, but now, Lopmon, Jim wants you to have it. He says it will grant you the power you need when you need it most." Spiritmon handed the crystal, bright blue in color, to Lopmon.

"Wait," Gatomon asked. Piedmon wanted something in return, the book. What was in it?" Lopmon nodded, she remembered that.

"Piedmon wanted the Prophecy, as no one has it, not even Lucemon. Only one copy was ever made, and that was given to Wisemon, the keeper of Prophecy, who evetually gave it to Wizardmon because he would need it. Lucemon can't remember it fully since he made it, but he can grasp at bits and pieces. Piedmon saw what a reward he would get for bringing them the Prophecy. Luckily for him, he realized it was a fake before he told Daemon he had it," Spiritmon said.

"Can someone fill me in?" Patamon asked cautiously. Gatomon quickly explained the dream she had, and then that Wizardmon had shown her the Prophecy. She also explained why it couldn't be told to him.

"So, what now then?" Patamon asked. The three digimon looked at Spiritmon, who shrugged.

"We keep going. Lucemon cannot stray as a spirit too far from the Spirit Village, so it is best we leave. I know you all are hurting, and trust me, so am I, but we must win this fight, else being dead is the least of our worries."

* * *

><p><em>Daemon looked at the forces in front of him. Eight of ten crests were now corrupted, and the last three bars would never hold Lucemon back. <em>Especially now, _Daemon thought. _So nice of others to contribute.

_He found who he was looking for, the girl Mimi and her pet Lillymon. Well, more like the other way around. That's how it was, digimon before humans, and that's how it would stay. "Lillymon, girl. Why did you two not kill Hope? He wasn't even needed corrupted and he survived. Not only that, he now possesses part of Seraphimon's soul! Maybe you should end with the same fate as Devimon! I'd do so with Piedmon, but he destroyed the two he was after, helped secure Imperialdramon and their 'tamers', and he even managed to fight off a spirit digimon. Why is it you, the one with the simplest task, who fails me?"_

_ Lillymon answered for both, looking down at the ground, "The angel was far too powerful, even in his Ultimate form. He had the power of a Mega. We distracted him as long as we could, but then he opened a portal and trapped the Scubamon inside. We were lucky to not be along with them." Daemon stared dangerously at her, his eyes crackling._

_ "Relax, Daemon," A childish voice said. Daemon immediately recognized it as Lucemon's, so he bowed deep, not even turning. "We have the upper hand, they have five left, between them only four real powerful digimon, maybe three, if we see no more of Spiritmon. You did well to take so many out, but be warned: They still only have to take out you to prevent my influence here. The risk you took today by even being there made me nervous, although it did make my job easier. I have a feeling they will try to strike straight at you now, avoiding the rest. It is your job no longer to attack, but to defend. Only five left. In the past day, you have taken well more," Lucemon chided. Daemon nodded, proud that his master trusted him. "The four digicores lost today will eventually be made up for, but you still have 9, so you are at no loss of power when the time comes."_

_ With that, the darkened room turned black again. Lucemon was the only one who could be heard. He quietly muttered, "The crests will fall until only Hope remains... Yes... well, now I only need a few more lines, soon I shall know the fate set in stone. Even if it isn't necessary, I will know my own Prophecy."_

* * *

><p>So, longest chapter yet. This has been about what, 15 days? Yeah, a little off what I have been, but life caught up to me. Quality over Quantity, this one just took longer. Hopefully, it is like a double chapter and is as good or better than the rest. Please review.<p>

By the way, Lord Pata, Mexico futbol is cheating. No way did they just way the Gold Cup and U17 class... crazy.

Okay, more witchology, I guess. There wasn't a whole lot of direct references, other than Devimon's comment on the two ways a witch can die. Read this section if you wanna learn that basic.

Okay, a witch was rumored to not die both in body and spirit unless one of two things was done:

A. The raw, still beating heart was eaten

B. The witch was burned at the stake.

Now, for instance, the Salem witch trials: The 'witches' were hung. What would technically happen to a witch (in theory) was it's soul would be anchored to where the body was buried, and it would try to gain strength through blood. Grubs, worms, birds, any blood would do but human would be the best. Then, it could take over a new body or re-pocess its old body.

Now, the paragraph above also portrays to what Spiritmon said about Lucemon being anchored to the village.

A witch could be imprisoned by burying it upside down under 13 iron bars, surrounding the cage with a number of substances that could burn/hurt witches. The two i know off hand are salt and iron. The bars stopped the spirit from lingering.

Knowledge of Prophecy in Witchlore is different then my version in a few ways, but one main. A powerful prophecy was generally written by a coven of 13 witches, although I would guess the devil could do so as well.


	11. Chapter 11

Well, you all have now read over 100 pages of work, after completing this chapter. I feel that this may go for two more chapters, and one or two good swings yet. They might be long, but you know what, so be it, I have to finish this somehow.

Anyways, an idea popped into my head that was very random, and since I don't feel I am the best to write it, I'll put it out there for someone else to use (you can't have enough ideas!). I was wondering, since T.K. was a novelist in later life, if someone were to write something of a one shot of T.K. and Patamon almost discussing the general writing theme of the Fanfiction 'community', adding tips and pointers in on how 'they' would write it. I don't know, something to chew on.

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon, but I feel that I have done a decent job extending the story.

Read on, my fellow writers!

* * *

><p>It was the next morning in the small spirit village, and Sepikmon had risen to see them off. The solemn group set off towards the forest T.K. had come from. No reason had been given, but at this point, no one cared. Jim lead the procession, with Matt and T.K. father behind, Tai and Kari trailing. Kari wanted to talk to T.K., see what he knew, see why he left, be comforted, but right now, he was trying to comfort Matt.<p>

Tai sighed, looking at the two brothers up ahead. He was holding Koromon, since he hadn't gotten the strength to go back to Agumon. "I really think Matt has done enough moping. He sulked all night to himself, and I don't think T.K. is going to help him this time. Time for some old school help," Tai said. He walked up to where Matt and T.K. were, and said something to T.K., who dropped back to Kari. He smiled, and she tried to smile back. The two watched as Matt and Tai started talking.

"I'm putting money on Matt coming back with a black eye," Kari heard. She turned to see Spiritmon and Jim behind the two. Spiritmon had been the one starting the bet.

"I really hope not. I was thinking that a punch to the gut should solve this. You would think that after so long, Matt would realize what's about to happen," Jim muttered.

"They'll never stop fighting," T.K. sighed. He nodded at the two, who were now brawling on the ground, each trying to grapple for the advantage.

Kari looked distracted. As the two continued fighting, she looked at Gatomon, who she was currently carrying, and asked, "Seems weird that Izzy was perfectly fine, as was Sora, and then they just both disappear. I mean, Davis and Ken probably got hit by Piedmon, and we saw Yolei and Cody fall, but we thought Izzy was fine, just unconscious. It doesn't add up. Sepikmon said they left, but we know Devimon was dead, Piedmon and Dragomon tied up, and Myotismon was just going away... How'd they die?"

"Daemon," was the one word answer Jim supplied. He wasn't willing to let on to anymore, but Gatomon asked a question next.

"Kari told me about you meeting Lucemon. How do you know for certain it wasn't him?" Jim raised his right arm, still trying to veer away from anymore questions, but the small group was persistent.

"Yeah, I thought you got that from Myotismon while getting him to leave. That then frees up Myotismon to be elsewhere if you're fighting Lucemon. And how can you be fighting a spirit?" T.K. asked. He glanced over to the fight, briefly checking the progress. Both boys were exhausted, but still going at it. Something like this would exhaust Matt beyond having the time to think of Sora, but it must've been hard, the two of them hadn't needed to fight this long since they were in Puppetmon's forest.

"That devil was with Myotismon. If you must know, it had to be Daemon because Lucemon didn't kill them." He answered simply.

Kari and T.K.. both stared at each other in shock. They had a million questions to ask, but Patamon beat them to the punch, "So, why haven't we gotten them? I mean, we can't leave them behind... Can we?"

"Look," Spiritmon started, saving Jim anymore explanation, "Lucemon had the mark of the devil on Izzy. It is both spiritual and physical, gives pain when you fail and controls your mind. Well, he told Izzy to bring Sora, but Lucemon wanted to witness Jim's demise, so he sent Daemon. Now, they are both just as evil as Mimi, although if Izzy is the only one with the mark, he'd be the worse. We believe that the Devil's Mark is the dark crest's real image. Therefore, by having the mark, it probably means your crest in possessed, and so are you. We believe that 8 of 13 bars are broken, but Lucemon will not break the remaining five until he has Light and Hope. His power will be many times stronger now, and I doubt we've seen the last of him. Stock up on Devil repellant, we are going to have an infestation of problems." With that Spiritmon and Jim headed up. Kari and T.K. were about to question why they left so quickly, but saw Tai and Matt had just finished fighting. Both were going to have bruises, but Tai helped Matt up, Matt gave Tai a solid clap on the back and everything seemed to be normal.

"They still don't want them to know... Is anyone else finding that strange?" T.K. asked Kari softly. She shrugged. Tai and Matt stayed as a group, and Jim remained out front, so Kari and T.K. took the opportunity to hang back by themselves.

They had gone for a little while, about half a mile, before either of the two said a word. Gatomon and Patamon had walked up between Tai's group and their own to give their partners space, so the two were relatively alone. Kari finally sighed and turned to T.K., "Why did you leave me there? More than anything else, that hurt... I couldn't stand to see you just walk away, not saying a word, nothing! You worried me! Couldn't you stay and trust us, trust me? We could've worked together to solve that, not have you run off and try to solve that yourself!" She exclaimed. T.K. flinched a little as she started to cry softly on his shoulder.

"Kari, I didn't want you to get hurt from my actions! I thought that by leaving, I would keep you safe, and by leaving that maybe I wouldn't hurt anyone. I _know _I worried you, and I regretted that the whole time! But I _never _tried or meant to hurt you, you know I would never do that!" T.K. answered, realizing that no response would ever help what he had done to her emotionally.

"But you _did _hurt me, and every day it tore at my heart to not see you everyday, and not to be able to know how you were doing! You couldn't trust me enough to think that the two of us could work together to solve it?" Kari asked through tear filled eyes. She looked T.K. right in his eyes, and he was stunned to see the hurt in her eyes, "If you can't trust me, how can I ever trust you?" With that, she hurried away, past Gatomon and Patamon and past Tai and Matt. Tai looked at T.K., but before he could go see what had caused his sister to melt into tears, Matt put a firm hand on his shoulder, and said something to Tai that T.K. couldn't hear. Reluctantly, Tai nodded.

* * *

><p>"See, this is why I failed chemistry," Spiritmon muttered. He and Jim had silently observed the argument from the front of the group, and watched as Kari distanced herself from everyone else.<p>

"I suppose you would be referencing the figurative 'team' chemistry, but anyways Spiritmon, you never took chemistry. Just because the group isn't getting along doesn't mean we can do anything about it. For some reason though, I don't doubt you _would _fail chemistry if you took it," Jim answered. Spiritmon chuckled, and then started to drift back.

"I don't care if we can heal this little issue right now or not, but I'm going to distract her for a while. My comedian skills have been a little rusty lately,"

"No doubt they'll stay that way," Jim muttered after Spiritmon left. He looked around. They had just arrived at the forest he had wanted to get to. It had taken him less time than it had taken T.K. to get out to the village, since they had taken a few short cuts. This was not the place to go in with someone having a depression. He signaled for the group to set up camp. The area selected was secluded by the forest on two sides, and a large hill on another, making the way they came in the only reasonable way to access the selected clearing.

_Unless they already know where I'm going..._

* * *

><p>Kari was sitting, moping by the side of her small makeshift tent, presently with Gatomon talking to her. Surprisingly, Lopmon was there as well, trying to comfort Kari. Gatomon and Lopmon had gotten on better since T.K. and his group had returned, and the two of them had shared yesterday's star lit night settling their differences.<p>

"Good day to the happy bunch of you," Spiritmon said as he drifted towards them. He chuckled to himself for no apparent reason. Turning to Lopmon, he gestured towards Jim's small encampment. "He wants to see you," Spiritmon said. Then in a low but purposefully obvious whisper, "Don't worry, I'm a professional escape artist, though my skills may be tested after this..." Lopmon gave him a funny look, but slowly walked away.

Once she was gone, Spiritmon looked at Kari and Gatomon, who were waiting for him to continue. Putting on serious face, Spiritmon started, "Look, I know you were worried for your boyfriend, but must you take your anger out on him now? This isn't a great place to mope around, this place seems to like sending people to the Dark Ocean. Dragomon may not be there, but make no mistake, evil things still visit the place."

"Who said anything about T.K. being my boyfriend?" Kari asked, as she attempted to hide a small blush. "I was just worried for him!"

"Yeah, just worried means sharing deep conversations. Look, I wasn't always an idiot, and when I wasn't, I knew exactly what those deep conversations lead to." Spiritmon said, half joking, half serious. "Now, back to why I originally came here, I wanted to ask you what you would do in T.K.'s position, just learning that you would doom everyone else."

Kari looked down at her feet. There weren't too many options. "I don't know..."

Spiritmon cut her off before she could continue theorizing, "Exactly, you DON'T know what you would do. You can't. T.K.'s instinct told him to get away from the ones he hurt, to protect them. Wether it turned out for the better or not is not his fault."

Spiritmon tried to put on a happier face before continuing, carefully attempting avoiding any deep conversation. Thinking deep on pain would only magnify pain, not dull it. You had to think happy thoughts, or go around the negatives.

"You know, everyone says that you two were meant for each other, destined from the first time you met. I don't believe in destiny, especially after seeing everyone I knew killed by Lucemon, but let me say this: When the Digital World naturally selected the Chosen Children, it was looking for people with strong character that could work cohesively as a group. It's only natural that those who work together for so long, so well, will eventually form a deeper, more meaningful bond. You two have been here the longest, so you probably also have faced the most dangers together. Is this the lowest you have ever felt? Probably, no time before have you ever had to face an enemy that has killed some of the Chosen Children and processed others. Stress causes us to do stupid things. While what T.K. did was stupid, was the way you acted when you got him back smart? If you truly love him, why push him away so easily? Nothing to worry about right now, but it is better to not have sadness weighing you down in this upcoming adventure."

"Yeah, Kari, if one of you were to die..." Gatomon trailed off, still thinking of the image that seemed to be permanently framed in her head.

Kari curled up in a ball thinking on Gatomon's comment, but nodded. "What do you want me to do? Forget about it? Just forgive him?"

"Pretty much," Spiritmon said as he turned to leave.

* * *

><p>Lopmon looked at the small area Jim had set up. He had set up only a small clothes line that currently help a white sheet. A small fire burned next to the small line. It seemed to act as a divider, as Jim hadn't worn anything white yet. His part was the closest to the forest, but set in such a way that he could see a great deal of the stars over the far hill, as he wasn't so close as to be constricted by the hill.<p>

The other camps were spread out a good twenty yards apart surprisingly, as everyone wanted their space. _Everyone's mood is so dark. It gives off a color I can't describe, like a mixture of bright red anxiety, dark purple's depression and a black pain and even traces of yellow fear. Strong traces... _Lopmon though as she walked slowly into the small encampment.

"Anyone home?" She asked softly. Jim appeared out of the forest, holding a small pouch of food in his left hand. He nodded with a forced smile to Lopmon, and walked over to what seemed to be his makeshift 'bed', a small cloth covering a patch of ground.

"I guess Spiritmon told you to come. I actually didn't need to see you, but he wanted Kari and Gatomon to be alone, probably so he didn't inadvertently put you in an awkward situation, where they remembered something that affected them greatly that you knew nothing of," Jim said, sighing as he sat down. The staff's gemstone even seemed dull, its green almost looked defeated, if it was possible for a color to. Jim himself was just a mixture of confusion, Lopmon saw, and that surprised her. He always seemed to have something in mind, but was confused, badly so. "Well, I know a few things that should be said here. These battles are coming to an end, and you will play perhaps one of the greatest roles in the outcome of how this plays out. That's why I gave you the crystal, it will help you. I expect that I won't be able to help anybody at that point..." He trailed off, looking at the night sky. The stars here beamed, bathing the area in a soft white light, making things barely visible that weren't next to a fire. The celestial frontier was alive with the many millions of pilgrim stars that had settled in the night sky.

Lopmon joined him, and for a while, neither one spoke. Finally, Lopmon asked, "What did you give me that first day in my home village that helped me survive the attack? I know you have the Sovereign digicore, but I've never seen you use that sphere again."

Not looking away from the stars, Jim responded with a question of his own, "Do you know why your town always had an elder, one with the power to see deep into someone's soul, and when they matured, see their thoughts?" When Lopmon shook her head and shrugged a 'no', Jim continued, "When the three worlds were together, one of the ten Gods represented nature's Beast Spirits. Well, you're tribe was Cherubimon's own personal council, and so he granted the tribe leader with a special power, the power to see what he was feeling, so they could help persuade him, for he was worried about being too overbearing. By giving others the ability to see his emotions, and eventually his thoughts, he was able to have a council that knew him better."

Jim looked at the young Lopmon to make sure she was listening. Satisfied she was, he continued on, "Well, when the world split, the tribe and Cherubimon ended up in different worlds, making it impossible for the council to advise Cherubimon. Apparently, he eventually fell upon 'guidance' from Lucemon and became evil. I have a feeling that he was under control of Lucemon's crest, maybe the first time the crest was used."

"What does this have to do with me playing a major roll?" Lopmon asked, not quiet getting the story.

"Well, the Terriermon were technically supposed to be more to guiding the Lopmon, because it was believed that at one point in time, the Lopmon elder would be the only one that stood between victory and defeat. What was strange about you was that the elder had never been female, and so when the three dark digimon attacked, I figured that there might be a reason that the next elder in line was female. Apparently, so did Daemon, and he had the dark digimon destroy the village and the surrounding areas, trying to kill you and gain energy simultaneously."

Lopmon looked slightly stunned, her eyes wide with shock "I caused the death and destruction of my village... All for nothing?"

Jim shook his head upon hearing this. "Lopmon, somethings just can't be helped. Now, everyone left here is related, with the exception of you, me and Spiritmon. One thing you can always count on to relatives and close friends is when things go bad, people distance themselves to try to solve problems. Unfortunately, time is no luxury right now, so this has to be solved. A good meal should do that. Mind helping me? I'm a decent cook, but I could certainly use help." Lopmon looked up and nodded. The two of them moved towards the center of the camp to start a fire and begin cooking. Before long, a sweet aroma was being blown on a breeze through the camp.

* * *

><p>"T.K., stop looking so miserable, you know she didn't mean it," Patamon tried to comfort his partner. T.K. forced a smile. Patamon was laying next to a small fire, outside of a makeshift tent for himself. This was basically a small sheet held up by a twig, but it did just fine to cover Patamon. T.K.'s tent was bigger, but still makeshift.<p>

"Patamon, I wish that was true, but I can't remember her being this mad. I feel really bad about leaving her, but I did it because it was the only option, or at least it seemed that way..." He looked over at Kari's small encampment, directly across from his, about 50 meters away. He couldn't see either Gatomon or Kari. "What can I do?" He asked, sounding defeated.

"The T.K. I knew would never give up, especially when it came to Kari! You need to give her a sincere apology! Maybe after dinner. The longer you wait, the more both of you get hurt because of it," Patamon exclaimed. T.K. nodded, then went back to making himself a small dinner. When he noticed that Jim and Lopmon were cooking in the center of the clearing, he decided against that and started to work on making something for everyone, more of a side dish than supper.

(Line Break)

Tai and Matt were the only two that had decided to socialize into the early evening. The problem both of their siblings were having seemed to be enough to temporarily distract Matt from Sora's 'death'. The two were catching up on things missed, which had left Tai explaining what Kari had said earlier about Jim talking to Lucemon and Matt telling of what T.K. had seen in the Dark Ocean. Kari had told Tai everything, besides that Lucemon was actually the true target, and Tai told Matt all that he knew. In turn, Matt had revealed T.K.'s struggles and even given some insight into what he felt his brother was going through.

"T.K. probably, as always, was trying to solve his problems on his own, and he has convinced himself that that was what he was doing, but I think he's hiding the most important reason: He was afraid of how he might betray Kari," Matt said to Tai. The two had decided that it was too early for a fire and so they sat partway up on the hill Tai had camped out at.

"I wonder if he didn't fulfill semi-prophecy just by leaving... He betrayed Kari's trust, but then again, he certainly hasn't lead to our doom..." Tai put in. He looked around the large clearing, which would've housed all of the Chosen Children easily, if they had still been around. The hill was large, probably a good 150 feet high with a moderately sloped side. It hurt to climb, but Tai had. The other side was very steep, and the hill probably went down 200 feet to the ground on that side, which made this place like a fortress. It seemed that the clearing itself was lower than that of the surrounding land, even the flat opening, like the hills had made a miniature valley. How this place had been found before was beyond Tai, he wouldn't have been stumbling through those woods to find this either.

"T.K. said he almost got out a day later, but had to stay back because of Lopmon... I haven't seen much of her, but I guess that she supposably has some special power native to the elders of her village..." Matt said. He had his harmonica in one hand and was slowly working through a music sheet, seemingly writing up a song.

"Yeah, Kari said Gatomon was scared, or nervous, around Lopmon. A little off topic, but this was bothering me some... You know that Jim has a crest, I mentioned that earlier," Tai said. Matt nodded, waiting for Tai to continue, "Well, his crest had strange effects on him, like it stopped him from aging. I wonder if ours will do the same thing. He also said he couldn't get rid of the crest now... I mean, that could be bad."

"I think T.K. said that that wasn't naturally his crest, although after watching him get his digimon to digivolve, it makes you think differently, doesn't it? I dunno, if you are worried, ask him. It looks like we'll get a dinner invitation here," Matt said, gesturing to the two cooking in the center. Tai nodded, and the two moved on to other subjects.

* * *

><p>Spiritmon decided to detour a slight bit before heading back to his camp, anyways, Jim was off cooking, and eating wasn't Spiritmon's thing. Kind of hard to eat when you had no teeth and little substance. He thought back to the time he could eat, when he was a Terriermon (AN, if you forgot, re-read the last part of chpt. 5), and smiled. Although he could no longer eat food, that didn't stop his Millennia old memories. "Living alongside so many Lopmon, you rarely ate any meat... It was worth it though, they were cute," Spiritmon said to himself. His roaming had taken him almost to T.K.'s camp, and he smiled as he smelled the sweet aromas of food. It smelled like cooked apples, and suprisingly, fish. Being about the only meat Spiritmon had ever eaten, as the Lopmon really didn't consider fish a real meat, he could recognize that smell anywhere. "Probably sushi... They did cook a lot of that in Japan," Spiritmon sighed, thinking back on the multiple people he had accidentally scared, trying to get a good whiff of the meal.

T.K. saw the spirit digimon drifting into his camp and laughed as he made his way over to the cooking pot, taking a good smell of the fish he was still preparing. Though most Japanese restaurants would serve raw fish, being part French, he believed that it was a health hazard to consume the uncooked fish. Right now was not a good time for food poisoning.

"Spiritmon, you trying to get early samples of my cooking? You should wait, I'm not done yet!" T.K. said, a small smile gracing his face. Spiritmon turned to T.K. and laughed.

"I've been on a million year diet, Takeru, kinda hard to eat. Jim didn't believe that I could do that, so I made a bet with him. Only a few hundred years to go!" Spiritmon laughed. T.K.'s eyes narrowed, that didn't add up. Spiritmon realized his mistake and quickly tried to change the subject, "What are you making, sushi?" The question was rather weak, but there wasn't a whole lot of time to think up a good question.

"Spiritmon, are you trying to say that Jim isn't just a little older? I heard Kari say that he hasn't been aging, but you make it sound like he is about as old as you..." T.K. pushed. He went over to the pot and started to bring out the cooked fish to be sliced up.

"Oh man, he's not going to be happy... Can you forget I ever said that? It'd be a lot easier for me," Spiritmon asked. T.K shook his head, he was going to hear this out. Spiritmon sighed, thinking. He could tell T.K. now, which would probably lead to everyone else knowing without Jim telling them, or he could let Jim tell, which would make sure that Jim knew... but Jim wouldn't be too pleased. Well, they hadn't been planning on sticking around for a long time, so it was probably better to tell him and let it spread slowly, and maybe the two of them would be gone before it finished getting around, "Well, before I tell you this, understand that he is a million years old in digital time. Its only been a few centuries in the real world, but time slowed greatly until you guys came and corrected the time rift. He just hadn't been back to the real world before he came looking for you a few weeks ago. I don't know a whole lot about how he got here, so I'll start with the Digital World history."

Looking at T.K. and Patamon, Spiritmon continued, "Okay, look. A really, really long time ago, there was a first batch of the Chosen Children. They predated the crests. As you might imagine, they were really disoriented when they got to the Digital World, so awestruck that the ten had no idea what to do. At the time, they were all about sixteen, and so they basically got in an argument. At that age, sometimes an argument can be a big deal, and so the group split in three. Jim went off with one other, a girl, and the other two groups split into pairs of four. Needless to say, we, their digimon, were not there to greet them as Patamon was around to see you when you first arrived. Well, this lead to many, many bad things. the first being the war. Lucemon was around, stirring up ill feelings about the kids, and quickly did just that. By the time the war started, the two groups of four had their digimon, and had somehow ended up on opposite sides of the conflict. Jim and the other were still lost.

"Well, they came to the Spirit Village, which was were I was. The turn of luck was too good to be true. Lucemon had been following the two, and riddled them into an argument. He came to Jim that night, and had a separate group attack the girl. All this, just to convince Jim that they needed help. Jim had been tempted by multiple familiars already, and denied them all. He knew quite a bit about witch craft, I think he had lived in England, and they were very paranoid about witches. I mean, did you notice the name he gave you? I thought some digimon had some complicated names." Spiritmon said, causing Patamon to giggle.

"Yeah, like Black WarGreymon. I think my name is fine, short and sweet," T.K. quieted him, waiting for Spiritmon to continue.

"Well, Lucemon gave him the option to help the girl right there. I was trying to reach him, but Lucemon was powerful, and stopped my from finding Jim. Seeing no other choice, Jim accepted the deal, exchanging some blood painlessly for the girl's safety. Little did he know he had basically sold his soul to the devil.

"Well, I found him as a Terriermon quickly after, and after explaining the usual, 'We're partners' gig, we got going. The girl had perhaps my best friend, a Lopmon. Why? Both of us were common digimon at the time, and both actually came from the same village that the Lopmon you know came from, though neither of us were the elder," Spiritmon sighed, clenching his claws into a fist before continuing, "Lucemon kept by Jim, talking to him, trying to convince him one way or the other on some matters, and being that he was the only one who had been in the digital world for any length, and being that he was an Angel digimon, no one argued with him. Jim had questioned him only once about why his name was close to Lucifer's, but was convinced that there was no connection, since the digimon of the world were polytheistic.

"Eventually, we joined the fight as peacemakers, both Jim and Lucemon seemed to easily solve the problems of the digital world flawlessly. We were proud, and for a while, things were peaceful. Seeing as there was peace, eight went home, but Jim decided that he'd rather stay behind. So, the girl did as well. For two years, they grew in friendship, and it was around this time that the crests were made and Lucemon became one of the ten. The two humans were loved greatly by the digital world and its inhabitants, and the two simply traveled everywhere. Needless to say, I also was falling for Lopmon myself.

"Well, a year later, a Spiritmon saved Lopmon from a sickness, providing the location of the cure, and I vowed that if I ever saw another, I would stop at nothing to help it. Jim had been away at the time with the girl, at a council meeting involving the crests. Both would eventually receive the first of the ten. Jim received Guidance from Lucemon, and the girl received Reliability, which, let me tell you, fit her perfectly. About another month went by before the things would start to go wrong. The girl finally decided that she wanted to go home, it had been almost three years, the two were going to get married, and live happily ever after. They even asked if we wanted to go, and we were going to, but the day of, everything went wrong. Lucemon turned on the guardians, and started the war. When the Spiritmon rose up to attack him, he started caging them away. We immediately went back to help, and it was there I ended up dying protecting the Spiritmon. Lopmon was destroyed, and so was Jim. He was beyond stunned. To save the girl, he basically pushed her through the portal, getting her away from the war. He was going to follow, but Lucemon stopped him by closing the portal. Not only was he mad that he did not age, every minute he was stuck in the digital world was like days in the real world. He never saw her again. Lucemon cursed his crest right there to stop him from aging since Jim wouldn't side with Lucemon. There were other curses, but none nearly as important to Jim as that first. Now that he knew he had sold his soul to the devil, Jim fled.

"Well, it took a few years, but he was at the Spirit Village, and he found me again. Thinking I was a familiar, it took me a long time to convince him otherwise. I never did find that Lopmon again, seeing as she had gone with the girl. We ended up traveling in the world that remained for the remainder of a long time, basically learning everything there was to know about this place. He never forgot what happened, and it still hurts him to think about it. I have a feeling he would've killed himself a long time ago if he didn't know where he'd end up. Basically, we built up plenty of favors, and Jim eventually got that staff of his because of it. Engraved on it is the name of that girl and what we used to call her Lopmon. We never say the names anymore, because it brings to mind this story. Don't ask him about it, in the end, its better he try to forget."

T.K. nodded. It was definitely something to hear so such a deep story from Spiritmon, and it did explain a few things. Noticing he had been neglecting the meal, he quickly got back to work. "So what about Gennai? You have obviously met him before," He asked, boiling rice over the fire.

"Well, we've run into him a few times, mostly when he was his younger version. That black orb that caused him to age wasn't around then, so he and Jim shared a lot in common. Gennai was always waiting for you guys, though Jim wasn't looking forward to your arrival. You can bet he was overjoyed when none of you had a Lopmon nor resembled the girl. It made it easier to follow you guys. As for Gennai, when he got old, We visited him a lot, simply to be good company. He never did travel much, even before he got old. We met Wizardmon as well, a long time before he met Gatomon. He was a lost soul at the time, and we traveled with him for a little while, telling him of what Gennai thought was going to come. When he saw Gatomon and heard that she was waiting for someone, he knew that he had something worth while to guard, and so he did, until she officially became Kari's partner. Now, I can see the others are ready to eat, let's not waste too much time."

Patamon and T.K. nodded and started to gather up their food, heading towards the center area.

* * *

><p>Dinner was fantastic. T.K. had made enough sushi for everyone, the extra rice he had had been turned into rice cakes. Jim and Lopmon had been hard at work as well, Lopmon had taken the time to go gather up many different herbs for a giant soup. She collected a variety of vegetables, including something that looked like a tomato but had a spicy tang to it and a vegetable that seemed to taste like chicken. "If you ever come across this, you have to cook it, otherwise you'll start to molt," Lopmon warned Patamon when he was trying to eat one of the leftovers. Jim had made the cauldron while Lopmon was away, very literally shaping it like in the same fashion you would shape a clay pot. He had also kneaded some dough into dumplings, and the soup they created had become very thick and creamy. The soup was served hot, and tasted fantastic.<p>

"So," Tai started slowly, "What do we do from here?" He looked around at the others, some, like himelf, were bruised, others just looked defeated.

"It's up to you on how to tackle this last leg of the journey. All I can say is that the final battle against Daemon will be in the Dark Ocean. That is the only place he will even think of showing himself to you. You balance risk and reward here: If you go early, you risk that the others will be there, but you end the fight quicker. If you wait, you may fall like the others, or you may be able to knock out the others one by one. This still leaves you to face daemon, and if you succeed up to this point, he may not even decide to face you, so you have to find a split, where you are quick enough to take him out, but also able to disable some of his power first," Jim theorized. Tai nodded, and then put his head in his hand, concentrating.

"Well, why don't we just aim to take out the other two dark digimon? Forget about Mimi, that can't be helped," T.K. said, carefully avoiding that they would also be avoiding Sora and Izzy as well. "I mean, we all can hit the mega level, she can only hit Ultimate... Although she was stronger the last time, but we can take her as a group," He said, gesturing to their four partners, all of which had hit mega now, and most likely could do so again.

"That's all good, but how can we be sure that by simply knocking out Piedmon and Myotismon, we don't unleash a stronger form? I mean, Myotismon has shown he has two other forms more powerful than his current form, what's to say Piedmon didn't have one as well, one he just didn't get the chance to use?" Matt asked. He wasn't too nervous about this happening, but he realized someone had to be an antagonist in this discussion.

Kari, who had been eating quietly while the discussion had gone on, finally decided to offer up a suggestion, "Or we could simply forget about all of that and go after Daemon right now. Why draw this out longer? I'm tired of watching everyone fall, one by one! We could easily be next! Omnimon was defeated by Myotismon the last time, and Piedmon could easily do the same! We don't even know how that 'Mystery Box' of his works! I think that by going after Daemon immediately, we would be risking less!" She excalimed. Tai looked at her. He was worried for his little sister, who had been very reserved since the last knew a lot of it had to do with T.K. and her feelings for him, but she was almost becoming impulsive, as if every problem that came up needed to be solved immediately, and if it wasn't solved, the world could end. Sighing, he contemplated the options.

"What if we did both? Matt and I could distract the two while you two went after Daemon... I'd go after him myself, but it would be more dangerous for you two to go after Piedmon and Myotismon simply because they might have help and your digimon may not hold the Mega form as long as it is needed to defeat both," He suggested. The idea was fine with Kari, he knew, as if it worked, it solved the problem quickly. It worked with Matt because they would, in a way, be shielding their younger siblings. But T.K. wasn't so sure.

"You've been beaten once, how can we be sure that won't happen again?" He asked. He had a good point, and everyone knew it. Myotismon alone had taken all three down, and they could do nothing. It was the first time that there was nothing anyone could do.

"I can put up a ward, a defensive spell, against the Blood Boil attack, but I'm not even sure how to stop the Mystery Box, its too random, and the more wards I put up, the more energy I lose. Over exerting myself causes death, so I'll try to avoid that. Still not sure I like the idea, but it's a start," Jim said.

"We've gone through all the decent options, and I still don't like any of them. All of them hang on the chance that the others don't show up and attack you when you go after Daemon, other than the one where you go after them one by one, in which case Daemon won't fight... Isn't there a better way?" Lopmon asked. She looked worried. She had grown to know T.K. and Patamon very well, but she also knew Kari, Gatomon, Jim and Spiritmon pretty well, and even though she didn't know the other four well, she didn't want any harm to befall any of them.

"Guys, lets sleep on it, and tomorrow we'll go about finding a solution without tired minds holding us back." Tai said. With that, the group finished up their meal, and Jim started another cauldron of hot water to wash the plates.

* * *

><p>"Lopmon, hang behind once more here," Jim said to the small brown bunny. She turned and sat down. Spiritmon was drifting around, smelling the last of the aroma left by the soup. They both waited patiently for Jim to finish cleaning dishes. When he finished, he turned back. "Lopmon, Cherubimon created the Crest of Reliability after the first war. You have to be someone T.K. can rely on once again. I'm leaving tonight, but remember that crystal I gave you, it has the old Crest of Reliability's power infused in it. Use it when you need it most, and only then. It may save all of you." With that, the two turned and left, leaving Lopmon staring at the purple-blue crystal in front of her, still wondering how to use it.<p>

* * *

><p><em>"They can only be coming after you, Daemon, prepare yourself. What you do is your own, but you have two crests to corrupt yet, by death. After that, all the power you shall ever want will be yours," Lucemon said, smiling at his powerful servant.<em>

_ "My lord, should I kill the ones left and take the cores, then engage the ones remaining?" Daemon asked, still bowed._

_ "Don't waste them... I'm sure you can find some use for them, but if you need them, there shouldn't be a reason to shy away from killing them, maybe making them a hostage of sorts," Lucemon answered. Daemon understood this to be the end of the discussion, so he left. "__Lost will be the chance of victory, the greatest power will have escaped! I know I'm so close to knowing the end! This can only spell victory for me..."_

* * *

><p>And henceforth, you have probably read one of the last chapters in this. I think I have two more left, and to heck if any of you can guess the ending. I have my own twisted agenda in this book.<p>

Anyways, one more mention, I believe. A Ward actually refers to a grassland surrounded by a castle wall, in definition, though it can refer to a protected area of one's mind, devoid of pain or pressure, a secure stronghold.

Please Review as Always, getting toward the end here. One last thing, since some days it is hard to find a good book, does anyone know of a forum thread that suggests some decent stories, or anyone own a forum and mind starting that as a thread? Sometimes you just look through the list and wonder when someone is going to write a book worth the time it takes to load the page, especially when all the books I have on alerts aren't being updated.


	12. Chapter 12

Me being me, I couldn't resist uploading this chapter. I'm calling this the hidden chapter for two reasons: You'll probably only see it in your alert box, since the average person logs on at 2 pm... or at least that is when I get the most views... It's a science, must be.

Disclaimer: I do not own digimon. Also am not accountable for any hurt feelings the end of this chapter may cause.

* * *

><p>Tai was the first to wake up, so he quickly set about cooking up breakfast. Soon, Matt joined him and the two began talking on how they would go about their adventure for the day. It was quickly decided that they would head to the Dark Ocean, and if anything went wrong, Matt and Tai would hang back and have Kari and T.K. go face Daemon. All this before T.K. and Kari even made it to the table. Kari still hadn't said anything to T.K., nor would she give him the time to apologize, avoiding him as much as possible. Breakfast was quiet, and they quickly realized that Jim had left, though it bothered no one deeply. They hadn't planned a place for him anyways.<p>

"Guys," Tai started slowly after everyone had finished the small breakfast, which was just a small fruit salad and some of the left over bread/dumplings. "We need to go," He said, quickly explaining what was going to happen and leaving no room for argument. It wasn't the way he liked to lead, but it his idea was the best option.

"Don't forget to apply deodorant," Gabumon said, "It's going to be a long walk."

The group solemnly headed out, digimon and partners alike silent, awaiting the challenges of what they hoped to be the last day.

* * *

><p>Piedmon and Myotismon stood quietly in the forest, in a heavily shaded clearing. Piedmon's swords were all setting in front of him, the four suits on the hilts gleamed, as did the blades. They had drawn a lot of blood recently, and they wouldn't stop drawing blood now. Piedmon himself was looking through an oversized goofy looking telescope. Myotismon, on the other hand, just stood there, his cape flowing just slightly on what seemed to be a non-existent breeze.<p>

"Well, you take the two Mega's again, we know they'll end up as the ring leader, Omnimon. I'll leave you with Imeraildramon, that should be more than enough. Use Sora draw their attention to center stage. I will try to take one of the two remaining fans and give them a great show. The last will head off and try to walk the tightrope, and fall because of stage fright. Go for the kill," Piedmon said, looking through an oversized telescope. He adjusted the funny looking scope and waited for his quiet partner to respond.

"I would really like to go after the girl myself, and have you take the two boys. They are boring, and I'd like to torture that insolent cat for a few days. So, why don't you take the two boys, and I'll go back a bit?" He asked. Piedmon sighed, but accepted the offer anyways. Myotismon drifted back into the dark woods.

* * *

><p>"No Spiritmon, I won't allow you to go help them! You know that if you go to your mega form, you die in the end! Remember, no basic form? When you're finished with that form, you die! How many times must I tell you this?" Jim asked. The two of them were in a heavily wooded area with almost no standing space. Spiritmon had insisted he at least help the others so they didn't get killed.<p>

Spiritmon sighed. He shook his head vigerously, "I never wanted it to end like this, but I have to go. We've been around long enough, and you want to go as much as I do, you're just scared! I'm sorry, but its time I rejoin everyone we knew." With that, Spiritmon left Jim standing alone, stunned, but shaking in anger at his long-time partner's defiance.

* * *

><p>"Okay, I figure that when we get to the place Kari was at the last time, we can use our D3's to open the portal... If not though, we may be forced to use MagnaAngemon to open it..." Tai said. The forest wasn't letting in much light, and it was a rather depressing walk. The trees were mostly dead, the leaves gone, branches rotting.<p>

"And then what if that doesn't work?" Agumon asked. Tai shrugged, there wasn't a whole lot they could do. Suddenly, they were standing in an almost black clearing. The trees seemed to move out of the way to avoid the dark figure in the middle, Piedmon.

"I'm glad you could make the show, friends! It's been so long since I've had a full house. Now, who wants to fight me?" Piedmon asked, grinning maliciously. Tai gestured for T.K. and Kari to slip by before he and Matt approached the towering clown.

"Let's take this oversized... What's a synonym for clown?" Agumon asked, stepping out in front of Tai alongside Gabumon. He was trying to delay and distract Piedmon, but he honestly had forgotten any other name for Piedmon.

"There will always be idiots because it can be so hard to kill stupid," Piedmon muttered, his grin widening. T.K. and Kari had slipped away by now, and though Piedmon noticed, it was best not to let on that everything was going according to plan.

"Name calling, or lack thereof, it's time to get to business," Gabumon said. He and Augumon quickly transformed into their mega forms, then DNA Digivolved into Omnimon.

"Let's fight!" Omnimon said, sword in hand. He was about to charge, but stepped back. "Supreme Cannon!" He shouted, firing the heavy cannon burst directly at Piedmon. Piedmon sidestepped before drawing all four of his swords. He started juggling them, tossing the four up while slowly moving forward. Omnimon moved to engage the clown.

"You see, sometimes you just need to have fun!" Piedmon laughed, and he tossed on of the swords at Omnimon. Caught off guard, Omnimon barely swung his sword to deflect the incoming missile, and as he was distracted, Piedmon tossed the second sword and launched himself at Omnimon,

Tai and Matt could do almost nothing but watch, neither of them were any good at sword fighting, nor had they ever tried, but Tai decided it was as good a time as ever to start. Picking up the first of the discarded swords, he tossed the other to Matt. Matt had his reservations about fighting with a sword, and so he hung back, testing the sword first.

"Piedmon, it is about time to kill you. The first time, we banished you, you were lucky. How do you feel about dying?" Omnimon asked, pressing his attack. Piedmon easily deflected, but had to jump back as the wolf-shaped cannon swiped at him.

"I should be asking you the same thing! Oh well, I have a different question! How does it feel to watch your partner die?" Piedmon yelled gleefully, dodging a cannon shot. He jumped to Tai, and sliced downward. Tai barely blocked as Omnimon tried to cover the distance.

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><p>Matt had been about to join when he saw something strange. There was a light in the forest, and so he immediately set off to see what it was. The light had almost hypnotized him, lured him straight into it's brightness.<p>

He found himself in a clearing, the sun beaming down. At the far end was a cave, or so it seemed. But this wasn't what caught his attention. Standing in the middle, in a white dress, was Sora. Her hair was pulled back in a short pony tail, her eyes seemed to gleam brighter than the light. She beckoned to Matt. Awestruck, he came, sword still in hand.

Giggling, Sora walked into the cave, leaving Matt to follow. He was so struck to see her, so entranced by her beauty that he didn't question how she was alive. His heart ruled his head, and so he followed, blinded by light. Only one question was on his mind, and that question involved the small box in his pocket.

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><p>T.K. and Kari had been walking quietly, aware that they could shortly be the only remaining Chosen Children left. They had suffered so much in the last few days that it didn't matter anymore, no longer did they care what happened. They were numb to the pain.<p>

But, as they walked through the forest, they were pained by the rift between them. Any other time, they could find peace in each other, but not now. Even their partners were effected by this rift, the quietness was almost an infectious disease, causing all of the group to stay dead silent. Lopmon looked especially out of place, not knowing what to do, and seeing how feeble her friendship was compared to the deep connection shared by these partners and... _lovers_, Lopmon thought. _They just won't admit it._

All the group was thinking on what Spiritmon had said to them, individually. Kari thought about forgiving T.K. and how they were now connected, T.K. thinking on how Spiritmon had lost Lopmon, and the loss that Jim suffered. He didn't want that for himself, and he knew Patamon was close to falling for Kari's partner, if he wasn't already head-over-heels for Gatomon.

Sighing, T.K. looked at Kari. Her brown hair was a little messed up, her faced tear stained. T.K. knew that he had to do something, or else he would be solely at fault for how she felt. He gently grabbed her shoulder, turning her towards him, looking her right in the eye. Gathering himself, he started, "Kari, I'm sorry I left you. I just can't stand to lose you, and you know that! If anything ever happened to you, I would never forgive myself. That's the only reason I left, because I'd rather you be safe, even if I had to suffer because of it. Kari, I know that I hurt you, and that was never what I wanted. I really, really want to be with you, but I thought I was endangering you by being there. Please, all I want is you to be _safe_." T.K. practically whispered the last word.

His face was red by the end of his apology, and he could feel heat under his shirt, like a cold sweat that rapidly became warm and almost unbearable. He tried to muffle how embarrassed he looked, but more than that, he tried to confess his true feelings. Kari looked at him through tear-filled eyes, and forced a smile. Gatomon and Patamon stood next to each other, watching their partners go through a sentimental moment. The two were paw in paw, watching nervously for Kari's reaction. But Kari simply hugged T.K., not even bothering to answer, crying on his shoulder. He patted her on the back, glad that she could at least take comfort in his presence. Some wounds were too deep to heal immediately, but they were making progress.

In the darkness of the woods, with all the horrors around them, hope had been found in light, but unbeknownst to the two of them, a dark shadow was ready to tear them apart... Permanently.

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><p>Is this a good enough advertisement for the next chapter? I decided to put this up, just because it seemed so quaint and perfect. Ending it elsewhere would've hurt.<p>

Even though its a short chapter, a short review won't take nearly as long to write as this did. (Remember, terrible romanticist). As always, drop on past me, I do love to have faces to put to the readers.


	13. Chapter 13

So, you like reading?  
>Okay, my disclaimer... I do not own digimon, nor is it legal to sue me for making you sad with what I write... Please don't attempt it.<p>

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><p>Tai was in an uphill battle with Piedmon, and he was starting to regret every trying to test his skills in sword fighting. He was currently trying to hold back Piedmon's assaults with just one sword. Omnimon had been stunned by Piedmon's daring move, and was just finally starting to get over to the fight. It would only take seconds, but Tai didn't have that kind of time.<p>

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><p>"Now, exit stage right!" Piedmon yelled, and with one final swipe, he cracked Tai's sword and ripped hard into his right thigh. Tai screamed in pain, feeling the sword strike bone, but Omnimon blasted Piedmon with his cannon, preventing any further damage.<p>

"Get out of here, Tai," Omnimon shouted. Tai looked at the hulking digimon. Omnimon's armor was pristine, as if it hadn't been touched once by the sword, but the look in his eyes was one of pain. It was only then that Tai remembered they shared a link, through which both emotions and pain could be felt. Omnimon was suffering from Tai's mistake. He slowly crawled away, still aching in pain, but soon fell unconscious, as his body simply couldn't take any more pain.

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><p>The cave was simply beautiful. Crystals of all different colors help the cave be engulfed in a pale light. There was a small pool in the center, the water clear and undisturbed. The roof of the cave was high, almost high enough to be a sort of ball room. The only problem: the openness was as empty as Matt's head. Sora had sat down at the edge of the pond, and she had let her hair fall free. She looked remarkably like an angel to Matt. He joined her, not a care in the world, and sat next to her. From where he sat, he couldn't see the triumphant grin on her face.<p>

The two sat there for a long while before Sora decided that it was time for her to do what she wanted and needed to do. Slipping away from Matt's side, she grabbed a chain that hung around her neck, which had gone unnoticed by Matt. The chain held her crest and tag, the latter which was still corrupted. The pink hue had become almost a crimson color, mixed with an orange. The heart itself was now twisted, looking almost hateful. But Matt still didn't see this as she quietly rejoined him.

She still loved him, as the crest was corrupted and changed, not reversed. Their love though, had simply become an Obsession. And she would do whatever it took for them to stay together, even if it meant his death. Silently, she pulled out a small knife, preparing to strike.

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><p>Kari and T.K. looked at each other. Kari had been crying for a long time on his shoulder, but the two of them understood that they needed to continue. This time, at least, they would do so together. Patamon and Gatomon hugged each other, an expression of joy written across their faces. Their partners were together, and now there was no need to worry about being separated.<p>

But Lopmon wasn't smiling. She looked into the dark forest surrounding the couples, and saw swirling colors of black, red and orange. The black had to represent darkness, which wasn't surprising, the red represented an anger, deep and brooding, but the orange was by far the worse. It represented a malicious joy that came from taking part in someone else's demise, caused from pent up hate. It was easily recognizable as revenge.

And who better to want revenge than Myotismon, as he slowly glided into the clearing. His face was contorted with evil, his grin more vile than the devil's. He laughed upon seeing both Kari and T.K. look at him with faces so evil, if looks could kill, his body would've been blasted to oblivion. "Did I disturb a little romantic moment? Oh, I'm _so _sorry, let me go wait over in the corner while you two cry for another half hour! On the other hand, you'll be together when you're both dead..." He laughed, drawing his cape open and revealing his two red whips. Patamon and Gatomon both stared at the vampire, but Kari shook her head.

She looked at T.K. with almost a look of desperation, knowing that they were about to be separated. "T.K., you have to go! The quicker you kill Daemon, the quicker this nightmare ends! Go!"

Myotismon stood back, watching with an amused grin on his face, looking at the three digimon in front of him. So weak at this stage, easy enough for him to destroy them within a few seconds. Why not watch the young couple suffer? Daemon already said he wanted them split up, but maybe he could kill one quickly enough... No, the torture here would be slow and painful.

T.K. stared back at her and shook his head. He wasn't about to give up that easily and leave. "Kari, we've been arguing this whole time about me leaving, and the two of us not solving our problems together! How can we just split up now? What if this is how it ends?"

Myotismon grinned, the laughed, "Oh, trust me, this is how it ends. Now, I have had enough of this soap opera, why don't you hurry up and decide?"

"Would you shut up? You're so lame, they probably modeled the word 'pathetic' after you!" Gatomon yelled back. Myotismon rolled his eyes, not even wasting his breath.

Kari looked away from Myotismon, then back to T.K., who was staring at her as if she had started speaking a foreign language. "Look, T.K., I'm sorry, but it's better this way! Maybe if we didn't have to worry about Daemon yet, but what if destroying Daemon is the only way this ends? He's the one who we need to destroy, and right now, we can't waste any time! What if Gatomon and Patamon fight this creep, and then don't have any power for Daemon when he comes to attack? At least this way we have a chance!"

Myotismon sighed, and turned to the three small digimon, grinning evil as he looked at the white cat. "I'm tired of waiting! Crimson Lightening!" he shouted, whipping at Gatomon. She easily jumped back as Patamon fired his attack away, trying to delay Myotsimo, who just brushed off the attack.

"If it makes any difference, T.K., I accept your apology, but go! The more time you waste here, the less chance we have of living!" Kari shouted. T.K. nodded numbly, awestruck that he had to go already, and that he couldn't be the one protecting Kari. Gesturing to Patamon and Lopmon, the two followed him as Gatomon was enveloped in a white light.

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><p>Piedmon quickly swiped at Omnimon with both swords, rotating them in full circles. The two swords dragged their tips through the ground before they sliced through the air, up slightly higher than Piedmon's head. They created a blur of motion as he walked forward. "Now, how fast are your reflexes?" Piedmon asked, as he quickly jumped forward, aiming at Omnimon's chest. Omnimon had been favoring his left thigh and was far too slow to jump aside. Instead, he brought his cannon arm up and deflected the blow, unleashing a salvo of shots at Piedmon, who backflipped, cartwheeled and summersaulted over the shots like a true acrobat.<p>

Out of the darkness, a mighty roar erupted. Piedmon laughed, looking at Omnimon, who watched Imerialdramon appeared. If it was possible, he was bigger than before. In his dragon mode, he lacked firepower, but he had defense and speed. Taking a position besides Piedmon, he started to charge his large cannon, before firing. "Positron Laser!" he shouted, the massive beam destroying everything in its path. Omnimon had to jump aside to avoid the shot, but landed hard on his right thigh, and couldn't get back up.

"Well, that was easy. Now, to quote you, 'How do you feel about dying?'" Piedmon laughed. He raised his sword for the killing blow.

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><p>Sora looked at Matt, his eyes still closed. She smiled, thinking of what they would do when she joined him. To not delay any longer, she brought the knife straight down, driving it towards his back.<p>

But Matt had sensed something wrong, and turned, raising his arm to block Sora's arm. An expression of shock was written across his face as he got up, easily overpowering Sora. He grabbed the sword and looked into her eyes. He could now see something was wrong, something was different. She looked like Sora, but she wasn't. "You're not Sora! You torture me because you look like her, but that won't work! I'll kill you for this. She died, and you have the nerve to haunt me?" He snarled, before charging at her, sword in hand. The hilt on the sword was a small, red heart.

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><p><em>"Well, well, well! Poor Sora failed on killing her lover... I have the crest corrupted, why don't we play around with this," A voice in the darkness said. The voice sounded like Lucemon's but was deeper, no longer the high pitched voice of the small angel who had corrupted Izzy or infiltrated the council. "Well, I can always enjoy this show for a little while..."<em>

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><p>Ophanimon squared off against Myotismon. The two looked at each other with a deep hatred. Myotismon hated that she, though now stronger, had destroyed him once and helped destroy him twice, Ophanimon was angry over the torture she had suffered at his hands. This hatred carried into a river of energy which flowed between the two.<p>

Finally, Myotismon jumped forward, slashing his whip down. Ophanimon caught it on her javelin, and pulled as the whip wrapped around her javelin. The other whip quickly followed, and her shield blocked it with ease. "Eden's Javelin!" she shouted, directing the powerful beam right at Myotismon's chest. He jumped back and folded his cape around him, making the green energy dissolve.

He waited for Ophanimon to fly up and join him before unleashing another attack, "Grizzly Wing!" He shouted, sending the bats streaking towards the archangel.

Ophanimon quickly countered, opening her hand, "Sefirot Crystal!" The crystals destoyed the bats, but died out before they could hit Myotismon. The two digimon quickly charged each other. This time, both drew blood, Myotismon hitting Ophanimon in the chest, Ophanimon cutting Myotismon in the upper arm.

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><p>T.K. wasn't even focussed anymore on where he was going. He couldn't stop thinking of Kari. Images of what could happen to her flashed in his head, from her being killed, tortured, or just shredded limb by limb. And he knew Myotismon wouldn't hesitate to do so. Slowly, he trudged on, followed by Patamon and Lopmon. Patamon was thinking about Gatomon and how Myotismon would love to get his revenge. He had already started to mess with her head, having sent her a message way back when he attacked Lopmon's city. Lopmon was the only one thinking ahead, and her focus was on her inability to help. Everyone else had pulled their own weight, only she had dragged the group backwards.<p>

The three, in their own despair, easily opened the portal to the Dark Ocean. Patamon and Lopmon noticed, but T.K. didn't show any interest.

There seemed to be nothing there, Had they failed? Daemon was just not going to show himself! But then, a voice, familiar but changed, quietly called out to them, "Welcome, my friends. It has been all too long!"

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><p>Omnimon, down on one knee, could not pull himself up. There was nothing he could do. Exhausted, he basically collapsed at Piedmon's feet, and de-digivolved into the two in-training forms. Piedmon gestured for Imperialdramon to finish the two, and he walked over towards Tai, ready to finish the young adult himself.<p>

"Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon shouted, and the lase whipped towards the defenseless digimon... and bounced off an invisible wall. Piedmon jumped aside as the blast almost leveled him. Turning, he saw a massive dragon rise and materialize out of thin air. The dragon was almost invisible, and if you had just glanced, you'd never see it. Like straight out of a knight's tale, the four legged beast was huge, had a long, dangerous tail, and two huge wings. Those wings were currently folded around him as he stood over top the digimon. The face of the dragon was aged, with two long whiskers and a wrinkled face. The dragon looked at the two intruders and snarled, unleashing pure white flames. "I am FlaWindramon, the last and final form of Spiritmon. I am perhaps the most powerful digimon ever, in terms of defense. I am indeed the most powerful digimon _you_ will ever meet. I am also the last one, as well. You two have forced me to attack you after a millennia of silence. I am the creation of all the digital spirits in the world, and I appear only when something has gone terribly wrong. You have caused there to be no life, no rebirth of the digital spirits, and so I am here to right this final wrong of your relatively short lives.

Imperialdramon growled, but Piedmon just laughed. He wasn't about to be scared by all the digimon he had killed. Grabbing his swords, he gestured to Imperialdramon, who leapt to attack FlaWindramon.

"Fire Hurricane!" the larger dragon yelled. A maw of flames started to form overhead, and the temperature started to climb quickly, causing all the water to evaporate. The water that was being lost caused Piedmon to sweat, trying to keep cool, but that evaporated immediately. With no water, body temperatures skyrocketed. His whole body was suffering at extreme heats, and he almost collapsed of heat exhaustion. Imperialdramon was basically unaffected, but when he attacked the larger dragon, his attack went straight through, as if nothing had happened.

"You think a little heat can stop me? Mystery Box!" The box this time enveloped Piedmon and started spinning, and soon a line of black blocks represented the end of the random event. Out stepped Piedmon, only this time, all black, like a giant shadow, just as much a spirit as the large dragon. A long, cruel looking scimitar was in his right hand, dripping shadow droplets, with just the slightest hint of a red tone. The full power of the attack had been revealed. He charged forward, slicing at the dragon, but his sword was stopped by a massive claw. It obviously pained the dragon to do so, but FlaWindramon snarled and sent a jet of white flames right at Piedmon, who quickly jumped back. Wherever the flames hit, diamonds formed, multiplying the light from the fire, redirecting the beams everywhere. The light only blinded Imperialdramon, but Piedmon shrieked when the light touched him. He countered by tossing a dark fog around, and the darkness and light fought for superiority.

Instead of jumping back at the dragon, he jumped to the unprotected form of Tai, took his sword and sliced downward. This time, there was nothing FlaWindramon could do."Now Die!" Piedmon shouted.

* * *

><p><em>I think I have the perfect way to rip these two apart," the voice said. "Let's let Sora be free. Then she can see the final moments of her lover killing <em>her._"_

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><p>Something changed in Sora's eyes, they again became the kind and caring eyes that Matt knew, but he was already through mid-strike when the change happened. "Matt, don't do it!" she yelled, barely bringing the small knife up in time to defect the sword. Matt dropped the sword, but instead of stopping, he tried to grab the knife.<p>

"You think you can fool me that easily? You're not Sora, now go to Hell! Leave me for good!" He yelled, grabbing the knife. He twisted it towards Sora, and stabbed downward. The stab was fatal, but not quick enough to be immediate.

Sora's eyes widened, feeling the pain rip through her body. She coughed up blood, but luckily, the pain was short, and she soon started to feel the numbness that death brought. She looked at Matt. He realized his mistake and shrieked in rage. Her eyes would haunt him for a long time, and her last words to him, "I still love you..."

Her heart stopped beating, as Matt broke out in sobs, not knowing what to do. Picking up the knife, he saw his only way out.

* * *

><p>Myotismon looked at Ophanimon. She didn't know it, but she had just made a vital mistake. In that charge, they had shifted sides, and now Myotismon was much closer to Kari. "Grizzly Wing!" He shouted, sending the attack at Ophanimon. She held her shield up, reducing her vision. Myotismon immediately dropped towards Kari, and took two quick shots with his whips. The connected with her back and the other hit her leg. Her shrieks of pain reached Ophanimon, who quickly tried o help, but not before Myotismon used his trump card. "Blood Boil!" He shouted. Ophanimon cringed, but mentally blocked out the pain. Kari, bleeding already, felt the blood just start to flow faster out of her two wounds. The pain that she felt was beyond anything she had felt before, and she screamed, trying to stop the pain, but being unsuccessful.<p>

"If you hurt her anymore, I will make you rue the day you were born!" Ophanimon threatened. She planned to make good on that threat as well. She angled her javelin and charged straight at Myotismon, "Eden's Javelin!" She shouted. The attack was more powerful than any of her previous attacks, filled with rage. It burst into Myotismon, who had tried to block it, and burned straight through his cape. Quickly, Ophanimon rammed him with her javelin, and caused the dark vampire to start bleeding profusely, even coughing up blood. She quickly changed her attack, unleashing the flaming crystals again. These massive attacks ripped Myotismon apart, causing him to start dissolving.

But he spat in Ophanimon's face, "You may have beaten me, but I have won! The ultimate torture is mine! Now, suffer as your partner dies slowly before you, and you can do nothing to stop it! Goodbye, and enjoy your last few hours of life!"

Once he was gone, Ophanimon de-digivolved to Gatomon and quickly ran to Kari. It looked exactly as she had seen it in Wizardmon's prophecy: Kari was laying in a pool of blood, her breath fain.. Crying, Gatomon felt helpless as she could do nothing to save her partner. All she could do now was wait and comfort her dying friend.

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><p>T.K. slowly turned to see the recognizable figure sitting in a chair. Jim sat alone, staring back at the three as they wondered how he had gotten there. Cautiously, Patamon and Lopmon looked around to make sure no one else was here. Something was wrong.<p>

"I have to say, I honestly expected a greater challenge, but that never came. Take a seat!" Jim said, enthusiastically. Almost, out of character. Three chairs appeared and the others were almost forced to sit down under Jim's gaze. "You see, I thought you were smart, and I was afraid that I was spelling my own demise when I messaged you the first day, telling you of this problem."

"What do you mean?" Patamon asked, completely confused. He looked at T.K. and Lopmon. T.K. still wasn't showing a whole lot of interest, but he was listening. Lopmon was already trying to put the puzzle in front of her together, trying to figure out what was happening.

"Think about it. Though it may be difficult for one with such a thick skull, try to think about it... Time's up! No guesses? Well, you just found the traitor in your midst. I'm sure Gatomon let on to a little of the prophecy, that there would be a traitor among you. Well, you all thought it was Lucemon, or Izzy. Let me explain your faults. No one ever trusted Lucemon, and you need to be trusted to be betrayed. Izzy, he never did anything monumental, and prophecies only refer to big changes. They don't dictate the smallest things."

Lopmon was perhaps the most shocked by this, and T.K. had just started to show some interest. He tried to move forward, but found himself trapped. Jim's grin just widened.

"You see, Lucemon spoke the truth almost a millennia ago: We humans could indeed rule the digital world! And so, without Spiritmon knowing, I enlisted with him. I traded my life time of serving for great power, a power that none can imagine! All I had to do was wait, and when you came, lead you on a treacherous journey that would end up with Lucemon's freedom.

"The facts have always been there, you just never saw them. The first time you went to the digital world, I was watching Devimon destroy the village! Watching! By now, you should've known I was much too powerful to not stand a chance, so I made up a somewhat believable excuse! In Primary Village, I went before you, and initiated the attack, killing Elecmon myself. When I was attacked, ha! How would they not manage to kill me? The fact that they only injured a defenseless person should've set off warning bells, but instead, it worked in my favor. Then, you two were split from your digimon, unable to help Cody, Davis and Ken as DemiVeemon was corrupted.

"Oh, and then Joe ended up in the hospital! I was so close to being caught then, on all sides! First, I told Devimon exactly when Izzy and Wizardmon left, and where Tai was with Joe. Then, _I _gave him permission to use the Dark Shadow. When _I _went into the room, _I _took the crest and corrupted it, then sent in Mimi with a dream link, so that if I needed to, I could get out of trouble by showing the crest. I tricked Wizardmon that way. Why did I bring him back? So you'd believe me! His word was _the final word!_ Anything he said was true, and therefore, I never had to worry.

"Oh, and you and Kari in the graveyard... I wonder who sent you there. Who could've caused you two to split so easily, like dropping an ax on weak flesh? Me. Of course it was me! I knew exactly how to send you there, and exactly what to show you!

"Things started getting easier from there. In the Spirit Village, I freed Lucemon and gave him strength before I 'entered' for the first time, and sent him after Izzy before quietly returning to Spiritmon. I then put up a show to give him more strength in front of Tai and Matt. More believability, but Lucemon gained immense powers from that. I told Cody and Yolei to head away with the supplies, so that it would be easy for them to be killed. Joe was a setback, but my mission was a success anyways!"

T.K. looked angry, but said nothing, still trying to figure out what to do. So, he delayed. "So, why do you need all this power? You already were immortal!"

"Son, I want to see one person, and one person only. I told Spiritmon of that desire, but he left! He left to help _you! _Now, I've lost him as well, but once I gain my power, he can come back as well! I can live what I lost so long ago, have the life I deserve! Unfortunately for you, it involved wrecking yours. In fact, how do you think Kari and Matt died? I'll show you!" Casting his left hand, the vision of T.K.'s brother dying and Kari's death played back to him. Shocked, T.K. looked with a defeatist gaze at the destruction that had been reaped. He felt all his strength being ripped away from him, the two he loved the most in the whole world, now as cold and dead as an animal. "You will be blinded by light! You will be the cause of the downfall of the Chosen Children! Your soul will be crushed by the weight of the world! All so true now. The last few lines of the prophecy state this, _'In his despair, he will see clearly. Light had blinded him better than darkness ever could. He shall finally see the traitor that brought the world to its knees!'" _

"I wish this had never happened! If I had never met you, none of this would've happened!" T.K. yelled, feeling despair wallow over him.

Jim just grinned, looking at the despairing three in front of him, "Remember where you are, Takeru Takaishi! The Dark Ocean only grants dark wishes, and we all know that you would never join the arms of darkness! This is my realm, and I have won. You are just here to witness the end."

The hopelessness of the situation hit T.K. as he looked around, shadows starting to twist at Jim's face. He was changing, seemingly growing more evil, if it was possible. The end was staring him right in the face, and he knew he was the only Chosen Child left. For once, there was no Hope.

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><p><em>In a distant prison, a screeching could be heard, as iron was scarped against iron. A bar was snapped, and flung along ten others. A hand came up from below ground, groping at the darkness around it. Finally pulling itself free, a small demon showed up. Much like a dark angel, Lucemon arose, with no hint of the cute angel he had been. His dark wings resembled that of a bat's, all twelve of them.<em>

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><p>Imperialdramon again charged FlaWindramon, but this time, a large claw slashed him across the face. The white fire exploded right on Imperialdramon, and he was knocked over, unconsious from the crystallizing fire.<p>

FlaWindramon saw the power increasing around him, the dark energy rising from Piedmon. He knew what had to be done. "Heaven's Judgement!" He shouted. In the fiery sky, a portal opened up, one seemed to lead to death, the other to life. He picked up Piedmon, screaming in agony against the darkness, and, showered in the light of the portal, began to dissolve with Piedmon, their data slipping into separate sides of the portal. "Now, the work of others shall decide our fate..." He whispered as he finished dissolving.

From the heavenly portal, a meteor of pure diamonds struck Imperialdramon, causing him to de-digivolve. The destroyed surrounding forest, the two digimon and the blood from Tai was all that remained of the fight.

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><p>Bet you didn't see that coming... Well, anyways, this is almost done, and I can honestly tell you, I might've been able to find reason to put this in that angst category... Well, I'd have to go a little more extreme on the descriptions, but I've touched base.<p>

I appreciate the reviews and your continued reading. I think this last chapter (Is it? I have the whole thing written out, so I do believe it is...) will be uploaded with an epilogue, because I am too lazy to piece them together.

Been a great time, but, this really isn't over for me. You'll see.


	14. Chapter 14

Well, last chapter. Maybe not the greatest piece of literature I have ever written, as this site doesn't like second hand narratives, where I can be very sarcastic.  
>I do not own digimon. There is an epilogue, so if you don't see it now, you are obviously one of the first to read this as I will upload them right after another.<p>

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><p>T.K. looked at the figure in front of him, no longer recognizable as was shifting shapes, his face contorted in evil, his whole body was almost darkening and taking on the shape of a dark angel. He looked at the two next to him. He had tried to get Patamon to digivolve, but it didn't work. T.K.'s face grew dark, shadowed, almost foreshadowing what dark thoughts he had. There was only one choice, "I wish that you would go to the eternal Hell that can only be meant for people like you! I wish for you never to see the one you love while you live, always to be haunted by that. And I especially wish that those you have killed come back to haunt you, for the rest of your life!" He shouted. Jim looked at him in shock, and T.K. felt the spell slipping. Standing up, he looked Jim right in the eyes, "You sold your soul to the devil. I wonder what the punishment for failure is..."<p>

A white light started to stream out from the horizon, like a giant, soundless wave, started rolling towards the group. No sound could be heard, until it got closer. It sounded like a giant freight train, steamrolling straight towards Jim. Jim's screams, though, remained silent as his body was destroyed by the white wave.

* * *

><p>As the light destroyed his body, multiple things started to happen. Out of the light flew multiple spirits, their data heading towards the digital world. The crystal Lopmon had shattered, and she became enveloped in a light so bright that T.K. had to turn away. Patamon began to glow as well, and he soon turned into Seraphimon. Then, Daemon appeared in front of them, smiling. He literally rose out of the ground, darkness spreading like tentacles around the area.<p>

"_But, a final moment of glory shall arise, a final hope at salvation," _The glowing form of Lopmon said. In the sky, a light appeared and out of it flew Ophanimon. She lead out the rest of the chosen children, who came through the open portal. Staring in shock, T.K. was overjoyed to see Matt and Kari among them, almost forgetting about Daemon.

Lopmon began to rapidly change, growing larger by the second. Finally, she stopped, and the light around her shattered like crystals, revealing Cherubimon, the Crest of Reliability embedded on the palms of her hand.

Daemon, meanwhile, looked horrified, staring at the three angels in front of him. He turned to flee, but was caged in by a wall of light.

"This is the end of you, demon!" Seraphimon shouted at Daemon. "So long ago, you were split from Seraphimon the elder. I am the younger, left to guard this world with Ophanimon's and Cherubimon's descendants. We were put into the souls of these young digimon, and now, we have come back to finish what was started one million years ago. Now, Judgement Day!" Seraphimon shouted. A large scale appeared in front of Daemon, with a feather on one side. Much like the egyptian ideal, Daemon's sould was weighed against the weight of a feather. Obviously, he lost. The three god digimon started glowing brightly, their light expanding outward. Beams of yellow, white and purple enveloped Daemon, dissolving him.

"Lucemon has won! You may have killed me, but he has won! Suffer, little children!" Daemon shouted as he dissolved.

* * *

><p>"Well, I guess that's it..." Tai said, looking at the others around them. None of them had any clue what had happened back there, but they had come back and sat in the old Room 57, talking.<p>

"I'm really sorry about that, Joe... I mean, killing you and all," Mimi said. The apologies went around, were they were needed, though no one took any of the actions to heart. Matt, though, remained changed from what had happened to Sora. They sat next to each other, but neither could bring themselves to say anything.

"I guess that we won't have to deal with Daemon again, well... Hey! I got an e-mail from Gennai!" Izzy said. He opened up the file, and played the movie for all of them to hear.

"Hello children! A marvelous job on finishing Daemon! I really must say, Azulongmon and I were very impressed with that. Now, unfortunately, it is not over for two of you. You see, the man who started you on this mission, Jim, told you that the main concern was Lucemon. Well, unfortunately, if the last lines of that prophecy tell you anything, 'Lost will be the chance of victory, the greatest power will have escaped', you still have work to do. Take a break though, you have time. For those of you who do not understand, it is best that you stay ignorant of the rest of the mission.

"On a happier note, Elecmon was revived, and is back again. Witchmon and Wizardmon... I couldn't find them, I'm afraid they may be gone for good this time. Well, breakfast tomorrow is on me! Join me if you can. For the college kids, do not fret, your work is completed, turned in and you all did so well that you are now majoring in any topic of your choice. Good night, and get some sleep. You all look like you just got back from a boring day at work... I'm the only one who should feel that way!"

The message ended and the group smiled, packing up and heading out. T.K. and Kari were the last in the room, well, Izzy scurried out to let them be. T.K. looked at Kari, "It's hard to believe that it's only been a few days, almost two weeks. Perhaps the shortest adventure we've had and now, the most drastically changing. Kari... I saw what happened to you, and I don't want that to ever happen again! Is there any way you can forgive me for what I did?"

Kari looked at T.K., smiling. The two of them had been through more in the last two weeks than most would go through in a lifetime, even the other chosen children. She chose to not answer, instead, she kissed him. T.K. blushed furiously, but accepted the kiss, returning the favor.

Patamon and Gatomon laughed at their partners, trying to relieve the awkwardness. The two tried not to look at each other, but Lopmon had other ideas. She used one of her long ears to poke Gatomon on the shoulder closest to Patamon, waiting for when she thought Patamon would look at her, just briefly. Gatomon turned to see Patamon staring at her, a big blush on his face. Smiling, Gatomon decided to imitate her partner, and kissed Patamon, who almost fainted. he decided it was safe to kiss back, and the two couples had taken the first step towards what some labeled 'destiny'.

Lopmon, though giggling, removed herself from the two couples, going to the desk, where she was surprised to see a letter, written in perfect Old English cursive. Waiting until the others were done, she called them over to see her little discovery.

The long letter was addressed specifically to the five of them.

_ Takeru, Hikari, Patamon, Gatomon, Lopmon:_

_I realize that this may seem strange, you finding this message after everything I told you, Takeru, but read through this._

_ I am writing this before my imminent death in the Dark Ocean, and seeing as you are reading this, you won. What I said to you back in the Dark Ocean was untrue, for the most part. The best lies have traces of the truth. I never worked with Daemon or his goons, but Lucemon and I did talk for many a long night about powers. That was many years ago, and at one point, I strongly considered helping him to see that girl. Well, I resisted. Up to the point of where I used Lucemon to protect me, I never put any more thought into it. Afterwards, Wizardmon had to remind me of what we were fighting for. It was hard, but that was when I decided to finally write this message. The prophecy spoke of the traitor, and so I assumed the role at the end, but I couldn't just take the role. I had to do something to merit the name, thus, being the final reason your crest was corrupted. Wizardmon and I planned this, as we realized that almost all of you would die on this mission. We also didn't want a mystery traitor. _

_ As for why you all came back, Wizardmon and I had some last minute thinking on that. Between the crystal Lopmon had, now gone, and a potion I had, it was possible. The potion was a wish potion, sacrifice for sacrifice. I asked for the return of those whose time had not come, for my soul to be subject to your punishment... And Lucemon's final escape. Both were inevitable anyways, so it was better to get something in return for it. I assume that your punishment was pretty harsh... As for Lucemon, he won't be strong enough to do anything for a while. Think of it this way: To heat a room, one heater can do the job in a few hours. But, to heat a house, one heater may take days to do so. Lucemon had enough power to be powerful in his prison, but in the Digital World, he will be slow to gain power, but impossible to find while he gains power. Unfortunately, this time, your friends will not be along for the journey. This time, you will travel to one of the other two digital worlds. _

_ But, for now, a few things to say. I have a jet scheduled to go to Cancun, Mexico. It's private, and the whole lot of you can go. It's a three week vacation for most, and for you, after the three weeks, it will have a second message. Don't worry, you defeated a stronger, more powerful Daemon with little problem, Lucemon can also be taken care of. Say congratulations to Matt for me, he will have asked Sora to marry him this night, and she will have accepted. Well... A few other things. Lopmon, yes, you are also a descendant of __Cherubimon, and you will be going on this next journey. The female descendant was special, and I think Cherubimon made it that way to bring back memories of his first assistant, Spritimon's Lopmon. By the way, Spiritmon told you, as I told him to, about that history to save my hand from writing it. Well, her name was Giggles and we called Terriermon Smiles. All the two ever did, which is why it destroyed us when the two left. Spiritmon and I still never talk about it, and won't. Who knows, fate may smile on him. _

_ Lastly, Gennai doesn't know what happened to Witchmon and Wizardmon. Now a happy couple, you'll meet them again. They'll probably bicker and moan more than any other couple that lives, but that's life. Lopmon, I mentioned once I knew a trainer of a Lopmon and Terriermon. In fact, there are two tamers. Well, maybe you'll meet them. The Lopmon isn't a descendent, but both of them are right about your age, so all three of you should get on pretty well. Enjoy yourselves. All of you. In a month, it may be hard to do so._

_Jim and Spiritmon/Terriermon_

* * *

><p>Thus ends the last chapter. There will eventually be a squeal, but right now, I am hooked on a 100+ chapter fanfiction which actually managed to make me forget I had a chapter waiting to be uploaded. Last notes at the end of the epilogue.<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

A few weeks had passed since they had finished off their adventure, and Kari, T.K., and the rest of the gang were sitting on the sunny beaches of Cancun, Mexico. Well, some were sitting, but many had decided to go for a swim in the marvelously clear Caribbean Sea. T.K. sighed, sitting back in the beach chair. He would be swimming, as well, but had decided to stay by Kari, who was sunbathing in a two piece swimsuit next to him. She had blushed when T.K. had first seen her in it, and, well, T.K. had blushed back. This earned a comment from Patamon about how easily embarresed they were, pointing out that digimon wore no clothes to begin with.

Davis was currently swimming with Ken and Tai, looking at the multiple fish around them. Davis had already been stung by a string ray in the foot, luckily it turned out to be non-poisonous. Izzy had gone scuba diving, taking a newly acquired waterproof camera with him to go 'study the marine ecosystem'.

Then, there was Yolei and Mimi, who were doing much the same thing as Kari. Although, the two of them had decided to give Kari and T.K. space, realizing company would make them uncomfortable.

Well, Sora and Matt, they were having a slightly more difficult time. Not wanting to wait any longer, they had scheduled the wedding in Cancun. Seeing as all their friends would be there, it was only a matter of planning the small wedding and getting their parents around. Matt's grandma had even decided to join them. The simple but eligant wedding would be done overlooking the sea, but simple didn't mean easy. They were planning the smaller details, but would have the last week to themselves, stress free, and most likely, people free.

"T.K., you wanna go into the ocean with me?" Patamon asked, looking up from making a small succesful sand castle. Being almost by the small grove of palm trees, about fifty feet back, the sand castle was successful. Gatomon and Lopmon had helped, but both had gone off to walk the beach... Well, however to digimon can manage that without freaking everyone out.

"Sure, let's go then!" T.K. said, smiling. He turned to Kari, gesturing for him to come as well. Smiling, the three of them walked towards the ocean, into the beautiful mid-morning sun. Only one week and a half to go, but they would enjoy every minute of it.

* * *

><p>So, the end, short, sweet and not effecting much of anything. Good ending, or so I think. Goodbye, mates.<p> 


End file.
